LlTURGIA ExPURGATA 





LlTURGIA EXPURGATA; 

« J 
if 

OR, 



THE PRAYER-BOOK 

AS AMENDED 
BY THE WESTMINSTER DIVINES, 

AN ESSAY CN 

THE LITURGICAL QUESTION 

IN THE 

. AMERICAN CHURCHES. 



CHARLES W. SHIELDS. D.D., L L . D . , 

PROFESSOR IX PRIXCETOX COLLEGE. 



FOURTH EDITION. 



, OF CO' 

WAY 19 1 



NEW YORK: 
ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH & COMPANY, 
900 BROADWAY, COR. 20th STREET. 





COPYRIGHT, 1864, BY 
WILLIAM S. & ALFRED MARTIEN. 
COPYRIGHT, 1883, B Y 
CHARLES W. SHIELDS. 



PREFACE. 



The following essay was originally published in con- 
nection with the Presbyterian Book of Common Prayer, 
and properly accompanies that volume as an explanation 
of the numerous points in which it differs from other 
editions of the Prayer-Book, though it also contains much 
matter that is of general and permanent interest. 

The suggestion has often been made that it should be 
issued in this separate form, in order to meet the growing 
interest that is felt in liturgical, as distinguished from ex- 
temporaneous worship, and especially to aid in solving 
the problem of a liturgy that shall be in accordance with 
the history, doctrine, and genius of the Presbyterian 
Church. 

The positions maintained in the essay are : that it is now 
impossible to construct a true liturgy outside of the 
Prayer-Book, or without regard to the ancient and modern 
formularies which it contains ; and that the Prayer-Book, 
as amended by the Westminster divines, and made 
optional rather than obligatory, would supply the need 
of Presbyterian forms of devotion, for private and public 
use, and at the same time afford a basis of closer union 
among the leading Churches of the Reformation (the 
Lutheran, Reformed, Presbyterian, and Episcopalian), 
which originally contributed to the formation of the 
English liturgy. 



\ 



•There was never anything by the wtt of man so well devised, of 
■0 sure established, vrhich, in continuance of time, hath not been 
corrupted: as, among other things, it may plainly appear by the 
Common Prayers in the Church, commonly called Divine Service."— 
Preface to the First Prayer book in 1549. 

"It cannot be thought any disparagement or derogation either 
to the work itself, or to the compilers of it, or to those vrho have 
hitherto used it, if, after more than a hundred years since its first 
composure, such further emendations be now made therein, as may 
he judged necessary for satisfying the scruples of a multitude of 
sober persons, who cannot at all, or very hardly, comply with the 
use cf it, as now it is, and may best suit vrith the present times after 
60 long an enjoyment of the glorious light of the gospel, and so 
happy a reformation." — Freface of the Presbyterian Revisers in 1661. 

"Upon the principles already laid down, it cannot but be sup. 
posed that further alterations would in time be found expedient. 
Accordingly, a commission for a review was issued in the year 16S9; 
hut this great and good work miscarried at that time." — Preface to 
the American Frayer-book in 17S9. 



(«) 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



This Book of Common Prayer is designed, and ig 
believed to be fitted, to promote the following objects: 

1. To serve as a memorial of those learned divines 
of the Westminster Assembly who, as Presbyters and 
Presbyterians in the Church of England, were, in 
1645, the framers of the Directory for Public Wor- 
ship, and in 1661 the revisers of the Book of Common 
Prayer. 

2. To furnish private members of the Church with 
a collection of solemn and decorous forms of devotion 
which have been used by the learned and pious in 
all ages, and, as here presented, are freed from the 
peculiarities that render other editions of the Prayer- 
book unserviceable. 

3. To provide a manual of examples and materials 
of divine service for the use of Pastors, Ministers, 
Theological Students, Chaplains, and others called to 
conduct public worship; and also, for the use of any 
congregations desiring to combine a Liturgy with the 
Directory, a service-book which, besides every other 
liturgical merit, has that of expressing the orthodoxy 

(6) 



6 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



and resting upon the authority of the framers of the 
Westminster standards. 

4. To increase, beyond our own communion, the 
spirit of catholicity and fraternity among such Churches 
of the Reformation as originally contributed to the 
formation of the Prayer-book, by restoring to more 
general use those ancient formulas which are their 
several production or common inheritance, and, next to 
the Holy Scriptures, the closest visible bond of their 
unity. 

The Supplementary Treatise of the Editor is designed 
to give the warrant, history, and analysis of all thai 
the Revised Prayer-book contains. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER t 

FAGB, 

The Origin of the Westminster Directory for Public 



Worship, 9 

CHAPTER II. 

The Presbyterian Revision of the Rook of Common 
Prayer, 13 

CHAPTER DI. 



The General Assembly's Revision of the Westmin- 
ster Directory, 

CHAPTER IV. 
Ministerial Xegleets, and their Remedies, under the 



Directory, 28 

CHAPTER V. 

Congregational Xeglects, and their Remedies, under 
the Directory, 35 

CHAPTER VL 

The Consistency of a Free Liturgy with the Direc- 
tory, 41 

(<) 



8 



CONTENDS. 



CHAPTER VII. 

The Warrant for the Presbyterian Book of Common 
Prayer, 60 

CHAPTER VIIL 

The Historical Materials for the Presbyterian Book 
of Common Prayer, • • 62 

CHAPTER IX. 

The Historical and Critical Analysis of the Amended 
Presbyterian Prayer-book, 76 



APPENDIX I. 



A Chronological List of the Principal Liturgical and 
Historical Documents connected with the compi- 
lation and revision of the Prayer-book, and used . 
in the preparation of this edition, 137 

APPENDIX II. 

The Presbyterian Exceptions against the Book of 
Common Prayer in 1661, with Notes tracing their 
previous and subsequent history, 141 

APPENDIX III. 

A General Index to the Historical Sources of the 
Offices in the Presbyterian Prayer-book, ....... 179 



APPENDIX IV. 

A Tabular View of the Presbyterian Prayer-book 
as compared with tho Episcopalian, Calvinistic, 
Lutheran, Medieval, and Primitive Liturgies, 188 



THE 

DIRECTORY FOR PUBLIC WORSHIP 

AND THE * 

BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE ORIGIN OF THE WESTMINSTER DIRECTORY FOB 
PUBLIC WORSHIP. 

It may some^w^s happen that Churches will have so 
far departed, in the progress of events, from their own 
early standards and usages, that the work of restoration 
must incur somewhat of the suspicion belonging to that 
of innovation. In pcch a case, we have no alternative 
but to calmly appeal from existing prejudices to facts, 
authorities, and principles, and then leave the truth to 
vindicate itself, in the face of any odium or ridicule that 
may arise. 

The writer, therefore, in entering cp©» the difficult 
but vital question of this treatise, has bu£ to premise, 
that the views advocated are believed to frs not only 
scriptural and reasonable, but in accordance with the 
history and the best interests of the Church to which he 
belongs: that they are heliJ neither in a sectarian nor 
in a latitudinarian spirit: that they have not been 
hastily formed, " but are the result of some years of 
study and experience; and ti>?t they are not mositt to 
be here advanced without due caution and deference. 
It would be too much to expect ^ ready assent to thfmi 
on the part of those who have n$L passed through soiue 

(9) 



10 



THE ORIGIN OF 



similar course of reflection; but it is hoped they will 
at least be received in the spirit in which they are 
offered.* 

Our first resort must be to that portion of our Church 
standards, known as the "Directory for Public Wor- 
ship." This is the more necessary, since but few Pres- 
byterians in this country would seem to be acquainted 
with its origin, or rightly to appreciate its advantages 
as a mean between the extremes of imposed liturgies 
and "irregular, or extravagant effusions" in the service 
of God; as is abundantly shown by the general neglect 
into which it has fallen. 

In the Scotch editions of the Confession of Faith, the 
formulary has this title — "The Directory for the Public 
Worship of God, agreed upon by the Assembly of Divines 
at Westminster, with the assistance of Commissioners 
from the Church of Scotland, as a part of the Cove- 
nanted uniformity in religion betwixt the Churches of 
Christ in the kingdoms of Scotland, England, and Ire- 
land." But, as first adopted, and by law established, 
it was entitled, "A Directory for the Public Worship of 
God, throughout the three kingdoms of England, Scot- 
land, and Ireland; together with an ordinance of Par- 
liament for the taking away of the Book of Common 
Prayer, and the Establishing and Observing of this 
present Directory throughout the Kingdom of England 
and Dominion of Wales." These titles, viewed in con- 
nection with several previous events, will afford a suffi- 
cient clue to its origin. 

While the Church of Scotland differed from the 
Church of England, in having been reformed from 
Popery by presbyters rather than by prelates, it agreed 
with it, and with all the Reformed Churches, in adher- 
ing both to the principle and to the use of a liturgy. 
The "Book of Common Prayer" itself was, at one time, 



* While the Editor of the Presbyterian Book of Common Prayer 
is alone responsible for the manner in which he has performed his 
task, yet it is proper to state, that he has not acted without con- 
sultation with prominent Ministers of our Church, and has had the 
advantage of suggestions from the late Dr. William M. Engles 
and Professor Charles Hodge, who separately examined the 
prool-sheets of the work, while it was passing through the press, 



THE WESTMINSTER DjlHECTORY. 11 



in use in many Presbyterian parishes:* and the "Book 
of Common Order," at length adopted by the General 
Assembly, had some things in common with the Prayer 
Book, as will appear on comparing them. And even 
the first proposals to introduce the English liturgy into 
Scotland, were so favorably entertained by the General 
Assembly, that under its sanction a Prayer Book, sub- 
stantially agreeing with that of the Church of England, 
was prepared, though never actually used.f 

What might have been the result, had these measures 
been pursued with moderation and caution by the suc- 
ceeding king, it were now simply curious to inquire. 
But the rise of the High Church party in England, 
under the lead of Archbishop Laud, the revival of 
many papisticaT ceremonies in the Church service, and 
the wild attempt of King Charles L to impose them by 
force of arms upon the people of Scotland, soon dashed 
all hopes of uniformity or conformity in worship between 
the two kingdoms, on the basis of any existing liturgy. 
It was enough to rouse the Scots to a frenzy, that the 
book sent to them was a foreign production, and had 
not been regularly passed upon by their own Church 
courts, even if on examination it had been found free 
from errors and superstitions. The first attempt to use 
it in the cathedral at Edinburgh, was frustrated by a 
popular outbreak. "The Service-book, the bishops 
themselves, and every rag and remnant of Episcopacy, 
were blown away out of Scotland, to the four winds of 
heaven, by the first breath of that tempest." And at 
length all ranks and orders, throughout England as well 
as Scotland, with a contagious enthusiasm, banded 
themselves together to resist the invasion, and defend 
the Reformed religion against the fresh inroad of the 
old hierarchy. To make this compact more binding 
and impressive, it was preceded by a public fast, and 
attended with the religious solemnity of an oath; the 



* Collier's Ecclesiastical History, vi. 5S0. vii. 388. Peterkin's 
Records of the Kirk of Scotland, p. iv. Heylirrs History of the 
Reformation, Vol. EL p. 322. note. 

f Collier, vii. 388; Cook's History of the Church of Scotland, 
Yol. EL p. 336; Calderwood's True History of the Chuich of Scot- 
land, pp. 5, 663, 715—17; Hall's Reliquiae Liturgicee, Yol. L p. 19, 



12 THE ORIGIN OF THE DIRECTORY. 

whole assembly — parliament, divines, and people — 
rising at the close of the service, and, with uplifted 
hands, uniting in a 4 4 Solemn league and Covenant,"* 
of which the following was the first article : 

" We noblemen^ barons, knights, gentlemen, citizens, burgesses, 
ministers of the gospel, and commons of all sorts, in the kingdoms 
Of Scotland, England, and Ireland, by the providence of God, living 
under one king, and being of one reformed religion, having before 
our eyes the glory of God, and the advancement of the kingdom of 
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the honor and happines of the 
king's majesty and his posterity, and the true public liberty, and 
peace of the kingdoms, wherein every one's private condition is 
imchftded ; and calling to mind the treacherous and bloody plots, 
conspftfacies, attempts and practices of the enemies of God against 
the true religion and professors thereof in all places, especially in 
these three kingdoms, ever since the reformation of religion; and 
how much their rage, power, and presumption are of late, and at 
this time, increased and exercised, whereof the deplorable state of 
the Church and kingdom of Ireland, the distressed estate of the 
Church and kingdom of England, and the dangerous estate of the 
Church and kingdom of Scotland, are present and public testimo- 
nies. We have now at last (after other means of supplication, 
remonstrance, protestation, and sufferings,) for the preservation of 
ourselves and our religion from utter ruin and destruction, accord- 
ing to the commendable practice of these kingdoms in former times, 
and the example of God's people in other nations; after mature 
deliberation, resolved and determined to enter into a mutual and 
solemn league and covenant, wherein we all subscribe, and each 
one of us for himself, with our hands lifted up to the Most High 
God, do swear, 

" I. That we shall sincerely, really, and constantly, through the 
grace of God, endeavor, in our several places and callings, the pre- 
servation of the reformed religion in the Church of Scotland, in 
doctrine, worship, discipline, and government, against our common 
enemies ; the reformation of religion in the kingdoms of England 
and Ireland, in doctrine, worship, discipline, and government, 



* "The Solemn League and Covenant, for Reformation and 
Defence of Religion, the honor and happiness of the King, and the 
peace and safety of the three kingdoms of Scotland, England, and 
Ireland, agreed upon by Commissioners from the Parliament and 
Assembly of Divines in England, with Commissioners of the Con- 
vention of Estates and General Assembly in Scotland; approved by 
the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, and by both 
Houses of Parliament and Assembly of Divines in England, and 
taken and subscribed by them, Anno 1643 ; and thereafter by the 
said authority, taken and subscribed by all ranks in Scotland and 
England the same year; and ratified by act of Parliament of Scot' 
land, Anno 1644. And again renewed in Scotland, with an acknow- 
ledgment of sins, and engagement to duties, by all ranks, Anno 
2648, and by the Parliament 1649; and taken and subscribed by 
King Charles II., at Spey, June 23, 1650; and at Scoon, January If 
lQb±."~Confession of Faith of the Church of Scotland. 



REVISION OF BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER. 13 



according to the word of God. and the example of the best Reformed 
Churches: and shall endeavor to bring the churches of God in -he 
three kingdoms to the nearest conjunction and uniformity in reli- 
gion. Confession of Faith, Form of Church Government, Directory 
for Worship, and Catechising; that we, and our people after us, 
may, as brethren, live in faith and love." 

It was thus that the Scotch Covenanters, being now 
in league with the English Puritans, defeated the Pre- 
latical party in the field, and obtained in Parliament 
the convocation at Westminster, of that famous assem- 
bly of divines to which we owe our Directory. 

Of this Magna Charta of a pure and free worship, it 
is enough to say, that it has received praise from intel- 
ligent adversaries, no less than friends, as a solemn, 
temperate, and most instructive document: and that, 
after the lapse of two centuries, it remains among the 
authorized formularies of the Church of Scotland, and 
of the kindred Presbyterian Churches of this country. 
To be rightly judged, however, either as to matter or 
style, it should only be viewed in its full form, a^ first 
set forth by the Westminster divines, and in the light 
of the political and religious events from which it 
sprang. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE PRE SB YTERIAN REVISION OF THE BOOK OF COMMON 
PRAYER AT THE SAVOY CONFERENCE. 

The reign of the Directory in the Church of England 
was short. The wave which had brought the Presbyte- 
rians into power soon overwhelmed them, and their 
religious reformation was hurried beyond their control 
into a political revolution. Having thrust down the 
Episcopalians, they were now, in their turn, thrust 
down by the Independents, or Congregationalists, and 
both Directory and Prayer-book sank from view in the 
confusions which followed. 

Out of this anarchy, the Presbyterian clergy rose 
foremosst in restoring order and peace, both to Church 



14 PRESBYTERIAN REVISION OF THE 



and State. In London, they issued a public protest 
against the murder of the king, and rebuked the ex- 
cesses of the rebel army ;* and in Scotland, they recalled 
his successor from exile, crowned him, and rallied to hia 
standard, in opposition to Cromwell. And now the 
strange sight was presented, of Covenanter in arms 
against Puritan, both fighting and praying in the face 
of their own mutual and solemn league and covenant. 

After a dreary period of defeat and disorder, the 
result was the reestablishment of the throne and Consti- 
tution. But it by no means followed, that because the 
Presbyterians had thus been instrumental in restoring 
the monarchy, they also intended the restoration of that 
hierarchy which, from the first, had been the only 
object of their hostility.! Nor did it seem unreasonable 
that the Church of England, in accordance with the 
national sentiment, might continue substantially Pres- 
byterian, both in polity and liturgy. J The parliament 



* "A Serious and Faithful Representation of the Judgments of the 
Ministers of the Gospel within the province of London." See Collier. 
Eccl. Hist. ix. p. 357. 

f " A Defence of our Proposals to his Majesty for Agreement in 
Matters of Religion." "The Petition of the Ministers to the King 
upon the First Draft of his Declaration." " Alterations in the Decla- 
ration proposed by the Ministers." See Documents relating to the 
Settlement of Church of England in 1662, pp. 39, 79, 98. Published 
by the United Saint Bartholomew Committee. London, 1862. 

% "The Presbyterians," says Collier, an Episcopalian historian., 
"had several circumstances of advantage to support their hopes. 
Possession of the chair, the inclinations of no small numbers of the 
people, the countenance of great men, and the king's Declaration at 
Breda, gave this party no uncomfortable prospect." 

" The Presbyterians," says Bishop Burnet, " were possessed of most 
of the great benefices in the church, chiefly in the city of London, 

and in the two universities There were a great many of them 

in very eminent posts, who were legally possessed of them, and who 
had gone into the design of the Restoration in so signal a manner, 
and with such success, that they had great merit," &c. Burnet's 
History of his Own Times, p. 89. 

"They represented," says Bancroft, "a powerful portion of the 
aristocracy of England; they had, besides the majority in the Com- 
mons, the exclusive possession of the House of Lords ; they held 
command of the army, they had numerous and active adherents 
among the clergy; the English people favored them. Scotland, 
which had been so efficient in all that had thus far been done, was 
entirely devoted to their interests, and they hoped for a compromise 
with their sovereign." 

"The Presbyterians," aays Neal, who was fer from being theit 



BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER. 15 



and the aristocracy were then -inclined to presbytery, a3 
a safe mean between prelacy and independency. Lead- 
ing prelates themselves had already favored a -reduc- 
tion of episcopacy, ' ? to be attained by making the 
diocesan bishop a sort of permanent moderator of pres- 
bytery or synod:* and as the Directory had many of 
the rubrical elements of the Prayer-book, it was not 
impossible to combine the freedom aod spirituality of 
the former, with the order and decorum of the latter, 
and thus, while securing their respective advantages, 
also escape their respective perils. 

Accordingly, in the deputation which recalled Charles 
the Second to the throne, were such leading Presbyte- 
rian divines as Drs. Reynolds, Bates, Calamy, Baxter, 
&c, who presented an address} to the king, in which 
they said: 

"We are satisfied in our judgments concerning the lawfulness of 
a Liturgy, or Form of Public Worship, provided that it he for the 
matter agreeable unto the Word of God. and fitly suited to the 
nature of the several ordinances and necessities of the Church; 
neither too tedious in the whole, nor composed of too short prayers, 
unmeet repetitions or responsals; nor to be dissonant from the* Lit- 
urgies of other Reformed Churche?: nor too rigorously imposed ; nor 
the minister so confined thereunto, but that he may also nu.ke use 
of those gifts for prayer and exhortation, which Christ hath given 
him for the service and edification of the Church/' 

'* And inasmuch as the Book of Common Prayer hath in it many 
things that are justly offensive, and need amendment, hath been 
long discontinued, and very many, both ministers and people, per- 
sons of pious, loyal, and peaceable minds, are therein greatly dis- 
satisfied: whereupon, if it be a^ain imposed, will inevitably follow 
gad divisions, aud widening of the breaches which your Majesty is 
now endeavoring to heal: we do most humbly offer to your Majesty's 
wisdom, that for preventing so great evil, and for settling the Church 
in unity aud peace, some learned, godly, and moderate divines, of 



friend, "were in possession of the whole power of England; the 
council of State, the chief officers of the army and navy, and the 
governors of the chief forts and garrisons, were theirs: their clergy 
were in possession of both universities, and of the best livings "of 
the kingdom.' 3 See Hodge's History of the Presbvterian Church, 

* "The Reduction of Episcopacy unto the form of Synodical 
Government." See Document Y.. and Bayne's Historical Introduce 
tion to the Documents, p. 106. Also Calamy's Life of Baxter, chap, 
viii : and Knox ? s Book of Common Order. 

X "The First Address and Proposals of the Ministers." See Docu- 
ments relating to the settlement of the Church of England by thg 
Act of Uniformity, in 16o-, p. 12. 



16 PRESBYTERIAN REVISION OF THE 



both persuasions, indifferently chosen, may be employed to compile 
guch a form as is before described, as much as may be in Scripture 
words : or at least to revise and effectually reform the old, together 
with an addition or insertion of some other varying forms in Scrip- 
ture pbrase, to be used at the minister's choice; of which variety 
and liberty there be instances in the Book of Common Prayer." 

And the result of this application was "his Majesty's 
Declaration to all his loving subjects concerning Eccle- 
siastical Affairs,"* wherein, among other pledges given 
for a proper fusion of episcopacy with presbytery in the 
Church, was this one concerning the proposed revision 
of the Prayer-book: 

"Since we find some exceptions made against several things 
therein, we will appoint an equal number of learned divines, of both 
persuasions, to review the same, and to make such alterations as 
shall be thought most necessary, and some additional forms, (in the 
Scripture phrase as near as may be,) suited unto the several parts 
of worship, and that it be left to the minister's choice to use one or 
other at his discretion." 

For th*> assurances given in this Royal Declaration, 
the Presbyterian clergy of London presented an 4 'Hum- 
ble and Grateful Acknowledgement"! to the King, who, 
at the same time, appointed several of them his chap- 
lains, while to others were offered high preferments, 
none of which, however, were accepted but the bishop- 
ric of Norwich, by Dr. Reynolds, and that only on the 
conditions of the Declaration. J And at length, in due 



* See Documents, &c, p. 63; CardwelPs History of Conferences on 
Prayer-book, p. 256. 

f See Documents, &c, p. 101, and Reliquiae BaxterianEe, by Sylves- 
ter, p 284. 

J Calamy's Life of Baxter, p. 155 ; Hume's History of England, 
p. 478, Harper's edition; Proctor's History of Prayer-book, p, 114; 
Non-Conformists' Memorial, vol. i. p. 24; Neal's History of the Puri- 
tans, vol. ii 216. Bishop Reynolds had been a prominent member 
of the Westminster Assembly, and was not only appointed, but 
acted on the side of the Presbyterian divines in the Savoy Confer- 
ence. Baxter says that he "persuaded him to acccept the bishopric." 
Heid attributes his continuance in it to "a covetous and politic con- 
sort." Calamy says that " he carried the wounds of the Church with 
him to his grave;" and Neal that he was "a frequent preacher, a 
constant resident in his diocese, and a good old Puritan, who never 
concerned himself with the politics of the court." He is termed, by 
diffei-ent writers, -'the pride and glory of the Presbyterians in the 
city of London," "one of the most eloquent preachers of bis agre," a 
u thorough Calvinist," and a "strenuous opposer of the jus divinum 
of episcopaoJ. ,, 



BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER. 17 



form, a commission was issued for the promised revision 
to twelve Episcopalian divines, with nine coadjutors, 
and likewise to as many, the following named, Presbyte- 
rian divines, then incumbents of various livings: 

Presbyierian Commissioners at the Savoy Coxterence, a. d. 166L 
Principals. 

AKTH02TT TUCKXEY. D. D., 

Regius Prof of Div., Cambridge. 
John* Conant. D. D.. 

Regius Prof, of Div., Oxford. 
William Spurstow. p7. D., 

Mast. Katharine Hall, Cambridge. 
John Wallis, D. D.. 

Sav. Prof of Geometry, Oxford. 
Thomas Manton, D. D.. 

St Paul's, London. 
Edmund Calamy, D. D., 

Perp. Cur. of Alderm anbury. 
Rev. Richard Baxter. 

Minister at Kidderminster. 
Rev. Arthur Jack? n. 

St. Faith's, Lordon. 

Rev. Thomas Case, 

St. Mary Magdalen, London. 
Rev. Samuel Clarke. 

Perp Cur. Bennet Fink, London, 
Rev. Matthew Newcomen, 

Ticar of Dedham. 
Edward Reynolds. D.D., 

Bishop of Norwich, 



Coadjutors. 

Thomas Horto>\ D. D„ 

Prof, of Div., Gresh. Col., Cambridge 
Thomas Jacomb, D. D.. 

St. Martin's, London. 
William Baies. P.P., 

St. Dunstan's, London. 
William Cooper, D. D.. 

St. Olave, London. 
Rev. Johh Rawlins :n. 

Vicar of Lambeth. 
John* Lightfoot, D. D m 

Vice Chancellor of Cambridge, 

JOHN COLLINS, D.D., 

St. Stephens, Norwich. 
Benjamin Woodbrldge. D.D., 

Vicar of Newbury. 
Roger Drake, D. D.. 

Si. Peier's, London, 

B 



18 PRESBYTERIAN REVISION OF THE 



The terms of the Commission ran thus: 

"Charles the Second, by the grace of God, King of England, Scot 
land, France, and Ireland, defender of the faith, &c. To our trusty 
and well beloved the most reverend father in God Accepted arch* 
bishop of York, the right reverend fathers in God Gilbert bishop of 
London, John bishop of Durham, John bishop of Rochester, Henry 
bishop of Chichester, Humphrey bishop of Sarum, George bishop 
Of Worcester, Robert bishop of Lincoln, Benjamin bishop of Peter- 
borough, Bryan bishop of Chester, Richard bishop of Carlisle, John 
bishop of Exeter, Edward bishop of Norwich ; and to our trusty and 
well-beloved the reverend Anthony Tuckney Dr. in divinity, John 
Con ant Dr in divinity, William Spurstow Dr. in divinity, John 
Wallis Dr. in divinity, Thomas Manton Dr. in divinity, Edmund 
Calamy batchelor in divinity, Richard Baxter clerk. Arthur Jackson 
clerk, Thomas Case, Samuel Clark, Matthew Newcomen clerks : and 
to our trusty and well-beloved Dr. Earles dean of Westminster, Peter 
Heylen Dr. in divinity, John Hacket Dr. in divinity, John Barwick 
Dr. in divinity, Peter Gunning Dr. in divinity, John Pearson Dr, in 
divinity, Thomas Pierce Dr. in divinity, Anthony Sparrow Dr. in 
divinity, Herbert Thorndike batchelor in divinity, Thomas Horton 
Dr. in divinity, Thomas Jacomb Dr. in divinity, William Bates, John 
Rawlinson clerks, William Cooper clerk, Dr. John Lightfoot, Dr. John 
Collinges, Dr. Benjamin Woodbridge, and William Drake clerk, 
greeting. Whereas by our Declaration of the five and twentieth of 
October last concerning ecclesiastical affairs, we did amongst other 
things express our esteem of the liturgy of the Church of England, 
contained in the Book of Common Prayer; and yet since we find 
some exceptions made against several things therein, we did by our 
said Declaration declare we would appoint an equal number of 
learned divines of both persuasions, to review the same, and to make 
such alterations therein as should be thought most necessary, and 
some additional forms in the Scripture phrase, as near as might be, 
suited unto the nature of the several parts of public worship; we 
therefore in accomplishment of our said will and intent, and of our 
continued and constant care and study for the peace and unity of 
the Churches within our dominions, and for the removal of all 
exceptions and differences, and the occasions of such differences and 
exceptions from amongst our good subjects, for or concerning the 
said Book of Common Prayer, or any thing therein contained, do by 
these our letters patent require, authorize, constitute and appoint 
you the said archbishop, bishops, doctors, and persons, to advise 
upon and review the paid Book of Common Prayer, comparing the 
same with the most ancient liturgies which have been used in the 
-iburch, in the primitive and purest times: and to that end to 
assemble and meet together from time to time, and at such times 
within the space of four ca'eridar months now next ensuing, in the 
master's lodging iu the Savoy in the Strand, in the county of Mid- 
dlesex, or in such other place, or place*, as to you shall be thought 
fit and convenient, to take into your serious and grave considera- 
tion, the several directions and rules, forms of player, and things in 
the said Book of Common Prayer contained, and to advise, and con* 
suit upon and about the same, and the several exceptions and 
objections which shall now be raised against the s-ame. And if occa- 
»ion be, to make such reasonable and necessary alterations, correo 



BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER. 19 



Ooo» and amendments therein, as by and between you the said 
archbishop, bishops, doctors, and persons hereby required to meet 
and advize, as aforesaid, shall be agreed upon to be needful or expe- 
dient for the giving satisfaction to tender consciences, and the 
restoring and continuance of pea^e and unity, in the churches under 
our protection and government: but a^ciiing as mu< h as may be, 
all unnecessary alterations of the forms and liturgy wherewith the 
people are already acquainted, and have so long received in the 
Church of England."* 

It will be found, on comparing this document with 
the King's Declaration, that meanwhile the parties had 
materially changed ground. So that no sooner were 
they confronted, than it was made plain they were to 
enter upon ki a campaign rather than a conference,^ 
The Episcopalians stiffly assumed the defensive, insisted 
upon the formality of a written debate, f and demanded 
a list of objections; and the Presbyterians finding, after 
a lengthy correspondence, ending in a mere logical 
wrangle, that no terms could be made with them, with- 
drew at last, in hope of holding the King to his 
pledges. % and obtaining redress in Parliament. A 
renewed appeal, drawn up by Baxter, concluded in 
these words: 

"Finally, as your Majesty, under God. is the protection whereto 
your people fly. and as the same necessities still remain which drew 
forth your gracious Declaration, we most humbly and earnestly 
beseech your Majesty that the benefits of the said Declaration may 
be continued to your people : and. in particular, that none be pun- 
ished or troubled for not using the Common Prayer, until it be effect- 
ually reformed, and the additions made that are therein expressed. 
We crave your Majesty's pardon for the tediousness of this address, 
and shall wait in hope that so great a calamity to your people, as 
would follow the loss of so many able, faithful ministers, as rigorous 
impositions would cast out. shall never be recorded in the history of 
your reign: but that these impediments of concord being forborne, 
your kingdoms may flourish in piety and peace."§ 

But in this hope they were doomed to be disappointed. 



♦"The King's Warrant for the Conference at the Savoy.'' See 
Document XIV. 

f This manoeuvre, though it had the effect- at the time, cf placing 
the Presbyterian commissioners in a false position, has. however, 
secured to us. as we shall see. the full records of the Conference. 

t See ■• Efforts of Presbyterian Ministers to have the King's Decla- 
ration of October 1660. enacted." Document XXV. 

§ -'The due Account and humble Petition of us Ministers of tha 
Gospel, lately com missioned for the Review and Alteration of th« 
Liturgy." Document XXTU. 



iO PRESBYTERIAN REVISION OP THE 



The vaunted "word of a king" proved but a broken 
reed; and with the duplicity* of Charles, and the ser- 
vility of Parliament, were thrown against them all the 
libellousf influences in which that corrupt age abounded. 
The Prayer-book, with its exceptionable features un- 
changed, was presented to the House of Commons ; and 
at length, by the close vote of 186 to 180, the House of 
Lords reluctantly assenting, J was passed that famous 
" Act of Uniformity," under the operation of which, on 
St. Bartholomew's Day, (now doubly memorable in our 
annals,) two thousand Presbyterian clergy, then unsur- 
passed in learning, loyalty, or piety, and comprising 
names whose praise is still in all the churches, chose 
rather to quit their livings, in the face of beggary and 
disgrace, thao continue in an establishment unto which 
they could not conscientiously conform. § And, at the 



* " I must tell you," said the king, in one of his speeches to the 
Commons, "I have the worst luck in the world, if, after all the 
reproaches of being a papist, whilst I was abroad, I am suspected of 
being a Presbyterian, now I am come home." Journals of Parlia- 
ment relating to the Act of Uniformity. Document XXVI. See also 
Bishop Burnet's History of his Own Time, pp. 92, 179. 

f Burnet, p. 184, and Neal, vol ii. p. 217. 

1 Knight's History of England, Book VIII., p. 801. 

\ " St. Bartholomew's day being come, on which the Act of Uni- 
formity was to take place, two thousand Presbyterian ministers 
chose rather to quit their livings than to subscribe to the conditions 
of this Act. It was expected that a division would have happened 
amongst them, and that a great number of them would have chose 
rather to conform to the Church of England than to see themselves 
reduced to beggary. It was not, therefore, without extreme surprise 
that they were all seen to stand out, — not so much as one suffering 
himself to be tempted. As this is a considerable event of this reign, 
it will not be improper to inquire into the causes of this rigor against 
the Presbyterians." Rapin's History of England, as quoted in Col- 
lier, ix. 453. 

" On one and the same day, England saw the becoming spectacle 
of two thousand ministers of Jesus Christ embracing penury rather 
khan stoop to dishonest compliance. From college halls and cathe- 
dral closes, from stately and from humble parsonages, endeared by 
the familiarity of happy and useful years; holy men led out their 
delicately nurtured families, not knowing whither they should go." 
Palfry's History of New England, vol. ii. p. 130. 

" It is not this or that thing that puts us upon this dissent," said 
Jacomb, of St. Martin's, Ludgate, " but it is conscience, towards God 
and fear of offending Him. I censure none that differ from me, as 
though they displease God ; but yet, as to myself, should 1 do thus 
and thus, I should certainly violate the peace of my own conscience, 
§uid offend God, which I must not do. Shall we not follow those 



BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER. 21 



aame time, by one of those astounding revolutions with 
which history sometimes sets all philosophy at defiance, 
Episcopacy was established in Scotland on the ruins of 
the Covenant and Directory. 

And thus it seemed that every vestige of Protestant 
liberty had been swept out of the three kingdoms. The 
event proved, however, that it was but a brief recoil, as 
if to collect strength for a last- triumphant effort. In 
the year 1690, in the reign of the Calvinistic King 
William, Presbytery again rose from under the heel of 
Prelacy, and achieved, in the Church of Scotland, such 
a legal establishment as had before extinguished it in 
the Church of England. The Directory and the Prayer- 
book were driven farther apart than ever, and the two 
extremities of the island settled down into those ex- 
tremes of Protestant churchmanship in which they have 
continued until the present day.* 



who, through faith and patience, inherit the promises ? Shall we 
leave the snow of Lebanon for Kedar and Meschech? No! let us 
commit ourselves to the care of our Heavenly Father. Arise! let us 
go hence!" Quoted in New Englander, Jan. 1863. 

* It will he seen that, in this chapter, we have given only so much 
of the history of the times as directly bears upon the present inves- 
tigation. It was confessedly an age of intolerance when both parties 
by turns became persecutors and victims; and we have not thought 
it necessary to enter into controversies so remote from our time and 
country ; if indeed we are not spared the necessity of vindicating 
that comparatively lenient Presbyterian rule of which Jeremy Tay- 
lor (while allowed to pursue the vocation of a teacher in Wales) 
could speak as "the gentleness and mercy of a noble enemy." Our 
aim has not been to paint either party as tyrants or saints ; but 
simply to bring to view the unquestionable fact that the framers of 
our Church standards were not only, at the time, as a body, the 
lawful inheritors of the Prayer-book, but also that they afterwards, 
by their own action, became its lawful revisers, with a view to its 
resumption. The case was different with the Independent or Con- 
gregational ministers, who, from disloyalty, as well as doctrinal 
repugnance, forfeited their livings; but the incumbency of the Pres- 
byterian clergy, together with that of the ejected Episcopalians, was 
placed beyond question by the Act 12, Car. ii. cap. 17, entitled "An 
Act for confirming and restoring of ministers;" and when it is 
remembered that the whole number of claimants for restoration was 
not above two or three hundred, we shall know how to estimate the 
wild assertion sometimes made, that seven thousand or eight thou- 
sand Episcopalian martyrs are to be weighed against the two thou- 
sand Presbyterians. See Calamy's Account and Remarks on Dr. 
Walker's Account, vols. i. and ii. Consult also Burnet and Neal, 
and the civil historians, Hume, Hallam, Maeaulay, Knight, and 
May. 



22 GENERAL ASSEMBLY^ REVISION OF 



CHAPTER III. 

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY'S REVISION OP THE WEST- 
MINSTER DIRECTORY FOR PUBLIC WORSHIP. 

Our historical sketch (in which we have aimed at truth 
and fairness) has brought to view these facts: 1st. That 
liturgies, or prescribed forms of public worship, were in 
use in the early Church of Scotland, as in all the Re- 
formed Churches; 2d. That the Directory was, in its 
origin, a revolutionary protest against civil and ecclesi- 
astical tyranny in such matters, and a concession to the 
principle of uniformity or conformity peculiar to estab- 
lished or State-religions;* 3d. That it was followed by 
a healthy reaction — there having been at one time at 
least two thousand Presbyterian clergy in England who 
would have been willing to use even the Prayer-book 
itself, had it been properly reformed and amended; and 
4th. That the Directory was finally established by law 
in Scotland, as the alternative to a legally imposed 
liturgy, and as the only existing safeguard of a free and 
spiritual worship. 

We come now to its history in our own country. It 
was certainly not necessary that these extremes, be- 
tween which the Church was driven in the Old World, 
should have been repeated on a larger scale in the New, 
necessitated, as they mainly were, by political and sec- 
tarian controversies, which no longer trammel us on 
this side of the Atlantic; and it is not even probable 
that they would have been so repeated, had our fathers 
been able to free themselves from inherited prejudices, 
and to foresee the present diversified condition and rela- 



* These points are fully proved in the two learned and valuable 
works of Rev. Charles W. Baird, to whom belongs the credit of a 
first investigator and collector of the Presbyterian Liturgies. 
"Eutaxia, or the Presbyterian Liturgies; Historical Sketches by a 
Minister of the Presbyterian Church," published by M. W. Dod; and 
" A Book of Public Prayer, compiled from the authorized formula- 
ries of the Presbyterian Church, as prepared by the Reformers, Cal- 
vin, Knox, Bucer, and others, with Supplementary Forms. Published 
by Charles Scribner, 1857. 



THE WESTMINSTER DIRECTORY. 23 



tions of our Church. As it was, it is well known that 
in the General Assembly which adopted our Confession 
of Faith, the most learned and judicious members, such 
as Drs. Rogers, McWhorter, Ashbel Green, were in 
favor of so enlarging the liturgical element of the Direc- 
tory, as to include in it not merely rules and topics, but 
complete forms for the minister's use, either as exam- 
ples or materials of divine service; and the committee 
of revision actually prepared and reported such a 
liturgy, and advocated its adoption.* The failure of 
the scheme is not now to be wondered at, or indeed, 
regretted; especially since the spirit which prompted it 
so far prevailed in the counsels of the Assembly as to 
procure the amendment of the Directory in several par- 
ticulars. We shall see, if we compare our edition of 
that formulary with the same as first adopted by the 
Westminster divines, that the additions we have made to 
it are decidedly liturgical in their tendency. 

In the chapter on the 4 'Preaching of the Word," we 
find added this much needed caution against the danger 
of degrading public worship into mere sermonizing: 

"As one primary design of public ordinances is to pay social acts 
of homage to the Most High God, ministers ought to be careful not 
to make their sermons so long as to interfere with or exclude the 
more important duties of prayer and praise; but preserve a just 
proportion between the several parts of public worship." 

In the chapter on the "Singing of Psalms" and 
hymns, (which latter compositions! are not named in 
the Westminster formulary,) it is recommended to con- 
gregations "to cultivate some knowledge of the rules 
of music, that we may praise God in a becoming manner 
with our voices, as well as with our hearts;" and to 
ministers, "that more time be allowed for this excellent 
part of divine service than has been usual in most of 
our churches." 



* Assembly's Digest, p. 9. Eutaxia, or the Presbyterian Liturgies- 
Chap xiii 

f The history of our present Hymn Book affords some instructive 
precedents in rnference to the corresponding question of a Prayer 
Book, and shows how steadily the reaction has been going on iD 
modern Presbyterianism, from that false extreme into which it was 
driven in the Church of Scotland. Assembly's Digest — Psalmodyi 
pp. 180—187. 



24 GENERAL ASSEMBLY'S REVISION OP 



The chapter on " Public Prayer" is made more exact 
and methodical, the matter of such devotions being 
placed under several heads, as Adorations, Thanksgiv- 
ings, Confessions, Supplications, Pleadings, and Interces- 
sions; while, as to the manner, the use of forms is 
neither enjoined nor forbidden, as appears from this 
important amendment: 

"We think it necessary to observe, that although we do not 
approve, as is well known, of confining ministers to Pet or fixed 
forms of prayer for public worship, yet it is the indispensable duty 
of every minister, previously to his entering on his office, to prepare 
and qualify himself for this part of his duty, as well as for preach- 
ing. He ought, by a thorough acquaintance with the Holy Scrip* 
tures, by reading the best writers on the subject, by meditation, and 
by a life of communion with God in secret, to endeavor to acquire 
both the spirit and the gift of prayer. Not only so, but when he is 
to enter on particular acts of worship, he should endeavor to com- 
pose his spirit, and to digest his thoughts for prayer, that it may be 
performed with dignity and propriety, as well as to the profit of 
those who join in it; and that he may not disgrace that important 
service by mean, irregular, or extravagant effusions." 

The entire chapter on " Admission to Sealing Ordi- 
nances" is an addition, and thus extracts the kernel of 
truth from the error of Confirmation: 

"Children born within the pale of the visible Church, and dedi 
cated to God in baptism, are under the inspection and government 
of the Church, and are to be taught to read and repeat the Cate- 
chism, the Apostles' Creed, and the Lord's Prayer. They are to be 
taught to pray, to abhor sin, to fear God, and to obey the Lord Jesus 
Christ. And, when they come to years of discretion, if they be free 
from scandal, appear sober and steady, and have sufficient know- 
ledge to discern the Lord's body, they ought to be informed it is 
their duty and privilege to come to the Lord's Supper." 

While such significant additions as these are to be 
noticed, it is still to be regretted that the suggestions 
in reference to the reading of the Scriptures and of the 
Psalms, should not have been more fully retained, and 
that the specific direction as to the use of the Lord's 
Prayer should have been inconsistently (see Larger Cate- 
chism, Q. 187,) and no doubt inadvertently, omitted. 

The Directory, as thus amended at its adoption, has 
remained, without material alteration, our authorized 
guide in public worship; but the spirit which ruled in 
those amendments has continued in various ways to 
express itself. The insertion of that form in our hymn 



THE "WESTMINSTER DIRECTORY. 25 



books, designed for use in divine service; the issue by 
our Board, of such manuals as "Miller on Public 
Prayer," the "Sailor's Companion, or, Book of Public 
and Private Devotions for Seamen;" and the publica- 
tion of such works as "Eutaxia, or the Presbyterian 
Liturgies," and "A Book of Public Prayer, Compiled 
from the Authorized Formularies of the Presbyterian 
Church. " are marks of a growing opinion in this 
matter;* to which may be added the more practical 
experiment of the "St. Peter's Church," at Rochester. 

Even in the mother Church of Scotland, on the very 
battle-ground of the Directory, the Moderator of the 
General Assembly, in his opening sermon, f has recom- 
mended and ably advocated a more liturgical mode cf 



* See also Princeton Review. 1S55, Art. Y., " Presbyterian Litur- 
gies;" and 1S47, Art. IT., "Public Prayer." The author of the last 
named article speaks of having "sometimes heard the intimation, 
that the Book of Common Prayer, could it be quietly introduced, 
would be an improvement upon the present forms of devotion in 
many of our pulpits.*' 

f He explains that there are many who " are dissatisfied, not with 
our doctrine, but with our external forms of worship. The com- 
plaint is. that our services are bald and cold ; that they are ill-fitted 
to evoke the feelings and emotions which become worshippers: that 
we come together rather as an audience to hear a lecturer or teacher, 
than to pour forth our confessions, and desires, and prayers for 
mercy and forgiveness through the blood of Christ; that when 
prayer is made, it is rather that of presiding ministers than of the 
assembled people: that they are wholly at the discretion of one 
man. however mediocre may be his gifts ; that this is in no reasona- 
ble sense common prayer, for that they often toil after him in vain; 
that through our present system they are made passive and silent, 
rather than living worshippers; and are not called to confess within 
the sanctuary the Lord Jesus with the mouth, though it be written, 
* With the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the 
mouth confession is made unto salvation.' .... The regulation of 
these different matters, if there is truth in ecclesiastical history, 
was. at one p-ericd at least, left to congregations and their pastors 
and rulers: and to them it is humbly submitted, this Church might 
commit such power with greater security than any other, inasmuch 
as if any attempt was made to return to the forms and usages of a 
better age. against the mind of a major part of the congregation, or 
even to the offending of the honest prepossessions of a considerable 
portion of it, we have, through the subordination of our judicato- 
ries, ample means of granting redress." 

He adds: "Many clergymen and members of the Church of Scot- 
land, not the least in name, acquirements, and worth, have fre- 
quently discussed the matter with me, and have arrived at the sam# 
conclusion." 



26 GENERAL ASSEMBLY'S REVISION OP 

worship, as essential to the preservation and extension 
of the Church in some communities. And if we choose 
to look around us, we shall see on every side sister 
Churches and denominations, occupied with the problem 
of a liturgy that shall retain all that is valuable in the 
Church of the past, and yet be adapted to the Church 
of the present and the future. 

But the general inference we would now draw from 
the facts before us, is, that there has always been, 
throughout our history, what may be called a liturgical 
type or phase of Presbyterianism, and that its advo- 
cates are of unimpeachable orthodoxy and piety; being 
so attached to our Directory as the only safe universal 
guide for the whole Church, that they 4 'do not approve 
of confining" pastors or congregations to liturgies, and 
yet maintaining a voluntary and judicious use of them, 
in cases where it is plainly needed and desired, to be 
not only consistent with our standards, but part of that 
liberty wherewith Christ hath made his people free. 
And if it be asked why so little practical success has 
hitherto sanctioned their views, we need only mention 
two reasons as sufficient to account for past failures. 

One fatal mistake has been that of attempting to 
compose, rather than simply to compile, a liturgy. Some 
of the Presbyterian Commissioners to the Savoy Con- 
ference, through the injudicious zeal of Baxter, for the 
addition to the Prayer Book of his "Reformed Liturgy," 
a hasty effusion of his own, were betrayed into an error, 
which was most adroitly turned against them by their 
adversaries;* and our first Assembly's Committee of 
Revision were on the same path, when they recom- 
mended the whole Church, though only as a sample, an 
entirely new devotional production, ignoring even the 
hallowed formularies of Calvin and Knox. Scarcely 
less questionable is our Church pride and sensitiveness 
sometimes shown in reference to the Prayer Book, as 
if that excellent compilation, so largely referable to 
Presbyterian sources and sanctions, were an exclusively 
Episcopalian production, . or as if it were needful to 
repudiate the common treasury of Christian devotion 



* Bishop Burnet's History of his own Times, Vol. I., p. 180. 



THE WESTMINSTER DIRECTORY. 



27 



from which much of it was taken. If we intend to act 
upon this principle in our public worship, we must 
winnow out of our Hymn Book its Roman Catholic, 
Episcopalian, and Methodist hymns, and restrict our- 
selves to Presbyterian poems, set to Presbyterian airs. 
And the reformation will not be complete until we have 
banished the organ and the choir from our churches, 
and succeeded in devising for ourselves an architecture, 
less heathen or more Protestant than the Greek or Gothic 
temples in which some of our congregations are content 
to worship. The truth is. that, strictly speaking, a 
liturgy, like a creed or confession, cannot be the pro- 
duct of any one mind or age, or even sect of the Church; 
and it is no wonder that good sense and good taste 
have always combined with true piety in eschewing 
forms of worship, whether prescribe ! or extemporane- 
ous, which are full of individual conceits and ingenious 
novelties. 

But the other, and not less serious, mistake which 
has been made, is that of hoping to impose, or in any 
way introduce a liturgy throughout the entire Church, 
without regard to its diversified condition. We have 
seen that our whole history is a protest against the 
interference of the civil power in such matters: many 
things in the Prayer-book which were simply indiffer- 
ent, or even laudable, having been resisted to the 
utmost, when by law enjoined as terms of communion; 
and the same instinct of liberty rises against any abuse 
of even Church power in the details of public worship. 
The genius of presbytery, the world over, cannot 
endure anything more stringent than a Directory, or 
system of general rules and suggestions; and to pic- 
ture her vast communion, ministers and congregations, 
servilely drilled through the manual of an imposed 
ritual, would be the wildest of fancies. Tt may be 
questioned, indeed, whether the best liturgy that could 
be framed, were it abruptly taken up and enforced by 
ecclesiastical authority, would be. if warrantable, on 
any account desirable. Our Church, as a Church, 
might find in such appliances a hinderance to her own 
growth, efficiency, and spirituality; as is shown by the 
fact, that the denomination which adheres to an im 



28 MINISTERIAL NEGLECTS, AND THEIR, 



posed liturgy cannot take it effectively outside of th« 
cities, into the country, or to the frontiers. Moreover, 
in a land so vast and varied as ours, anything like 
strict uniformity of worship is, in the nature of things, 
unattainable. It is unreasonable that a congregation 
in St. Louis or New York should have all its appliances 
of devotion exactly like those of a congregation in the 
interior of Pennsylvania, or of Kansas, and such a rigid 
correspondence does not, in fact, exist throughout our 
bounds. The Church has, therefore, wisely foreborne 
either to enjoin or to forbid choirs, organs, particular 
styles of architecture and furniture, or a stated order 
and form of the several parts of public worship; and it 
may be safely assumed that all parties would unite in 
deprecating any summary legislation in reference to 
such questions, as not only unnecessary, but an inva- 
sion of that constitutional liberty in things indifferent, 
which we prize as second only to our uniformity in 
things essential. 

In several following chapters we propose to discus3 
the existing abuses of our Directory, or the evils which 
have arisen under it, and the available remedies and 
improvements. 



CHAPTER IY. 

MINISTERIAL NEGLECTS, AND THEIR REMEDIES UNDER 
THE DIRECTORY. 

In public worship, the two human parties are the min- 
ister and the congregation — the former leading in the 
service, and the latter accompanying him with the 
heart, or in some parts, with the voice also ; and, for 
the guidance of these two parties, the Directory gives 
certain general rules and suggestions. Let us consider, 
in this article, the ministerial requisites of edifying 
worship; and we would do this in no censorious or 
critical spirit, but only out of love to that Church which 
is the mother of us all, and from a conviction that the 
defects in our present practice are already generally 



REMEDIES UNDER THE DIRECTORY. 29 



admitted and regretted, and all the more readily, be- 
cause they are not past remedy. The writer, indeed, 
is simply confessing for himself, as well as for others. 

And let it be candidly asked, at the outset, if ouf 
ministry have not, as a body, widely departed from the 
direction that "one primary design of public ordinances 
is to pay social acts of homage to the Most High God;" 
and if, in yielding to the popular taste for able and elo- 
quent sermons, they are not neglecting the prescribed 
general and special preparation "for this part of their 
duty as well as for preaching?" No true Presbyterian, 
indeed, would wish to see the pulpit thrust aside in our 
worship. It is the glory of Protestant, as it was of 
primitive Christianity; and our Church, in so carefully 
furnishing herself with a race of educated preachers 
and scholars, has acquired a hold upon the intellectual 
classes, as distinguished from the merely fashionable, 
or the merely vulgar, which makes her the bulwark of 
all conservatism throughout the land. But while we 
have thus signally escaped the evil which existed when, 
according to the Westminster divines,* "the reading of 
common prayer was made no better than an idol by 
many ignorant and superstitious people, who, pleasing 
themselves in their presence at that service, and their 
lip-labor in bearing a part in it, have thereby hardened 
themselves in their ignorance and carelessness of true 
knowledge and saving piety," may we not meanwhile 
have lapsed towards the opposite error, of making no 
better than an idol the reading of a sermon, by so 
allowing it to "exclude or interfere with the more im- 
portant duties of prayer and praise, "f that they are 
degraded into a mere hasty prelude of the preacher, or 
"disgraced with mean, irregular, or extravagant effu- 
sions" ? 

Some eminent exceptions, indeed, there are to this 
general neglect ; but it cannot be denied that in too 
many cases there is neither "a just proportion between 
the several parts of public worship,"! nor any evidence 
of the required carefulness that they "may be per- 



* Preface to the Westminster Directory, 
t Directory, chap. vi. and chap. t. 



80 MINISTERIAL NEGLECTS, AND THEIR 



formed with dignity and propriety, as well as to the 
profit of those who join in them."* The matter, form, 
and arrangement of them have been left to chance or 
impulse The psalms, hymns, and Scripture readings, 
or lessons, are selected at random, or upon no obvious 
principle; and the prayers are long and rambling effu- 
sions of what happens to come uppermost in the mind> 
All is vague, crude, and unedifying; and the congrega- 
tion, sympathizing with the preacher, are glad to 
despatch their devotions and come to the sermon, where 
they can have something more orderly and intelligible. 

It is, indeed, often urged, in extenuation of these 
evils, that worshippers are, or ought to be, in a less 
critical mood during the devotional than the more didac- 
tic part of the service, and certain texts are quoted in 
favor of the minister's literally taking no thought what 
shall be said, and relying upon the Holy Spirit abso- 
lutely for good utterance, as well as right feeling. It 
would be easy to parry such texts, and to quote counter- 
texts; — "God is not the author of confusion in the 
churches of his saints;" "I will pray with the Spirit, 
and I will pray with the understanding also;" " Let all 
things be done decently and in order;" or to cite that 
methodical form of devotion, combining both directory 
and liturgy, which our Lord taught his disciples. But 
we admit the general principle asserted, while we still 
insist upon its proper limitations. The most acceptable 
and edifying public worship is, unquestionably, that in 
which the minister's form and the people's feeling are 
directly prompted by the Holy Ghost; and yet what 
shall be said of that in which the form does not fully 
express the feeling, but in many ways positively 
thwarts or destroys it — in which there is no well- 
ordered system of hymns, psalms, lessons, and prayers, 
by which to excite, sustain, and guide devotion; and in 
which the worshipper is either driven from public into 
private prayer, or rendered the worst of formalists? 
The late Dr. Miller, in his work upon this subject,! has 
enumerated many, but by no means all, of the defective 



* Directory, chap. vi. and v. 

f Miller on Public Prayer, chap, iv. 



REMEDIES UNDER THE DIRECTORY. 31 



forms or modes of public prayer, such a? the repetr 
thus, the tedious, the irreverent, the incoherent, the un- 
seasonable, the political, the complimentary, the didactic, 
the rhetorical, the sarcastic, £c. "We ask, in all Chris- 
tian candor, if it is not a gross abuse of the doctrine of 
spiritual gifts and influences, to rank such effusions as 
utterances of che Holy Ghost, or to impose them upon 
a worshipping assembly as their prayers? They are not 
theirs, and cannot be made theirs, any farther than they 
actually express the desires of their hearts, and are, on 
their part, intelligently and devoutly offered up unto 
God. 

And this great and growing neglect is already tell- 
ing injuriously upon our whole system. We believe we 
only utter a common sentiment, when we say that, on 
the one hand, it has increased the taste for a style of 
"sensational" preaching which but few ministers can 
acquire or sustain; and, on the other hand, has ren- 
dered all public prayer and praise a mere foil to the 
sermon. The pulpit has become the rival of the ros- 
trum, and mere intellectual entertainment substituted 
for devout communion with God. The people take 
refuge from the service in the discourse, and the dis- 
course is elaborated at the expense of the service. 
"Whereas, the need of careful preparation for the one 
only exceeds that for the other by as much as what is 
offered in the form of prayer or praise to God, is more 
momentous than what is addressed in the form of mere 
argument or appeal to man. 

Now. the obvious remedy for these evils is to have 
some plan or method of preparing and conducting the 
several parts of public worship, by means of which the 
whole service shall be made at least coherent and intel- 
ligible. With most ministers, the only plan would seem 
to be to adopt the lessons, hymns, and prayers mainly 
to the sermon. But, while this may be convenient, it 
can scarcely be called reasonable: for, unless his sub- 
ject has been before announced, or the occasion itself is 
suggestive, the congregation are left to grope after him, 
vaguely guessing his meaning, or else to worship with- 
out any intelligent sympathy with him, or with one 
another. Leaving this principle to be adopted whe* 



32 MINISTERIAL NEGLECTS, AND THEIR 



circumstances require it, a better method, we suggest, 
would be ordinarily to frame the services before the dis- 
course, entirely independent of it, or at least to have 
some obvious system in which the sermon shall follow 
as part of the worship, and not the worship precede as 
a mere vague prologue to the sermon. The reason for 
this is, that there are certain 4 'social acts of homage," 
which every congregation, on ordinary occasions, ought 
to offer, whatever may be the particular theme the 
preacher has chosen. Besides his special instruction, 
there are acts of confession, supplication, intercession, 
thanksgiving, praise, and hearing of God's word, which 
must be suited to the various classes, states, and char- 
acters of a mixed assembly, and without which their 
service cannot be called public worship. And to say 
that every minister can properly express and conduct 
these varied devotions without any plan or forethought, 
is to say what every minister knows to be simply impos- 
sible. It is for the want of such plan and forethought 
that large portions of the Scriptures are never read in 
our churches; that there is scarcely ever a complete 
service in which no part is slighted or exagger- 
ated, and no class of worshippers neglected, and that 
in general the ministrations of each pastor are of neces- 
sity so impresssed with his own individuality, that the 
people neither receive from God his whole Word, nor 
can publicly offer to God their whole heart. And 
though we would not have the ministry, as a body, come 
under the bondage of an inflexible system, yet we see 
no reason why any minister might not for himself so 
systematize the ordinary church service as to secure at 
once his own convenience and profit, and the edification 
of his fellow-worshippers. The leading features of such 
a system may be briefly indicated as follows : 

1. He might arrange a yearly course of Scripture 
lessons for the instruction of the people in the entire 
word of God, by reading in every service from both Tes- 
taments (according to the suggestion of the original 
Directory,) not necessarily whole chapters, (which 
divisions are not inspired, and are often too lengthy for 
a single reading,) but brief portions, selected in the 
order of the sacred books themselves, or upon some 



REMEDIES UNDER THE DIRECTORY. 33 



other scriptural and rational principle. As Christ is 
the end and sum of both dispensations, there could be 
no more effective mode of unfolding the whole divine re- 
velation than that of converging, Sabbath after Sabbath, 
the blended light of history and prophecy, of gospel and 
epistle, upon the leading events of his life, and the main 
features of his doctrine. And these lessons might be 
separated or followed by a prayer or hymn, in keeping 
with them, or suited to give devotional expression to 
them. Such an arrangement, besides imparting variety 
and unity to the service, would also afford that much- 
needed relief and help, a stated supply of themes for 
the sermon. 

2. He might adhere to some simple method in the 
stated public prayers, by at least keeping each class of 
them distinct and proportionate, so that neither the 
confessions, nor supplications, nor intercessions, nor thanks- 
givings of the congregation should be omitted, nor "the 
whole rendered too short or too tedious." The Direc- 
tory further recommends, besides the cultivation of 
personal piety, pre-arrangement and pre-meditation as 
to the matter of such devotions; but whether as to the 
form of them, there should be anything like composi- 
tion or compilation from the Scriptures, and the best 
models, is not decided, and cannot be, by any general 
rule. "Let every man be fully persuaded in his own 
mind." It is certain, that the public prayers of some 
of the holiest and most gifted ministers, such as Drs. 
Green and Chalmers, were often as carefully prepared 
as their sermons; and it is equally certain, that the 
ministrations of other eminent preachers would have 
been greatly improved by such preparation. Those 
who most oppose it, are generally those who most need 
it. There is much ignorant prejudice in reference to 
this grave matter. Because the warm, unstudied effu- 
sions of a good man, evidently in communion with God, 
and himself as remarkable for prudence as for piety, 
are confessedly better than the most sincere recitation, 
and infinitely better than the mere formal reading of 
prayers, we absurdly elevate the rare exception into a 
rule. But there is no practical evidence in our minis- 
try to support the specious pretension; and until the 



34 



MINISTERIAL NEGLECTS. 



preacher has given proof of an apostolic gift of utter- 
ance, it is surely questionable whether he ought to 
leave his fellow-worshippers wholly at the mercy of hia 
moods and caprices. 

3. He might arrange the several parts of worship in 
some natural order or succession, by which the wor- 
shipper should be conducted from the simple to the 
more difficult and intimate stages of devotion; begin- 
ning with an Invocation, or act of Humiliation and 
Confession, and thence proceeding to the Reading of the 
Law and the Gospel, with Confession of Faith, through 
the Supplications and Intercessions, to the crowning 
acts of Thanksgiving and Praise. And sometimes 
might be used with profit those excellent summaries of 
these several parts of public service, the Commandments, 
the Beatitudes, the Apostles'' Greed, the Lord's Prayer, 
and that well-digested series of petitions contained in 
the reformed Litany, the whole being preceded by one 
of the reformed Confessions. 

4. He might both have and use a form in those cere- 
monial offices, for which the Directory provides only 
general rules, but which cannot, in the nature of the 
case, be wholly extemporized — such as the "Adminis- 
tration of Baptism," "Administration of the Lord's 
Supper/' "Admission of Persons to Sealing Ordi- 
nances," "Solemnization of Marriage," "Burial of the 
Bead," &c. It is matter of general complaint, if not 
loud, yet deep, that these solemn occasions are so often 
marred by crude and random effusions. If only a few 
well-chosen sentences of Scripture were pronounced at 
such times, it would be far better than the mere desul- 
tory harangues to which intelligent and devout assem- 
blies are sometimes subjected. 

But to sum up all in one word, the minister might 
have an exemplified Directory or Liturgy of his own, 
such as was common in all the early and some of the 
modern Presbyterian churches. If the only objection 
would be, the labor of composing or compiling it, we 
hope yet to show that this is an objection which can 
easily be avoided. 



CONGREGATIONAL NEGLECTS. 35 



CHAPTER V. 

CONGREGATIONAL NEGLECTS, AND THEIR REMEDIES 
UNDER THE DIRECTORY. 

Whatever may be the abuses and evils in the minis- 
terial department of our public worship, we believe 
them to be fully equalled by those which prevail in that 
of the congregation; and because the latter are the par- 
ties primarily interested, their peculiar errors, as well 
as rights and duties, should be all the more freely can- 
vassed. It would, indeed, be much pleasanter to pic- 
ture our whole theory, realized both in a ministry 
endowed with apostolic gifts, and in assemblies rapt in 
pentecostal fervors; but let it be remembered that the 
very first step towards amendment, is to deal honestly 
with the facts as we find them. 

And we, therefore, affirm it to be as undeniable as it 
is lamentable, that in many of our congregations a 
growing suppression has been taking the place of all 
proper expression of devotional feeling. Judging by 
appearances, in some cases, the great mass would seem 
no longer to go to church to worship God, so much as 
to hear choirs and sermons. They sit between the pul- 
pit and the organ, in mute compliance, while their 
prayers and praises are performed by proxy. With all 
our boasted Protestantism, we have in the heart of our 
communion the essence of the Roman ritual, a vicarious 
service, of which the people are but auditors, and in 
which, sometimes, they can no more individually parti- 
cipate than if priest and choir were praying and sing- 
ing for them in a separate performance. 

Some signal exceptions, indeed, there may be to this 
general decline of congregational worship; but the 
mournful fact is conspicuous, that our assemblies, as a 
class, neither "praise God in a becoming manner, with 
their voices, as well as with their hearts," nor intelli- 
gently unite in " offering up their desires to God for 
things agreeable to his will. " Those solemn functions 
have been delegated to the choir and the preacher, in 



36 CONGREGATIONAL NEGLECTS, AND THEIR 



whose hands they have become respectively mere artis« 
tic performances, and individual rhapsodies. In many 
cases the people do not, simply because they cannot, 
pray or sing; and the words, "Let us pray," or "Let 
us sing," are but dead formulas — hints of a duty, echoea 
of a reality. 

It is sometimes urged, in extenuation of these abuses, 
that the several parts of divine service ought to be thus 
committed to qualified proxies, in order that by the free 
exercise of their superior gifts, under the influence of 
the Holy Ghost, the body of worshippers shall be edi- 
fied ; and the example of the primitive Christian assem- 
blies is cited as an illustration. We need not deny the 
general doctrine, while we insist that it should at least 
be carefully and consistently applied. That is unques- 
tionably the most edifying form of public worship, in 
which those most gifted in prayer and praise shall lead, 
while the rest of the assembly accompany or follow 
them ; but even the inspired prophets and many- 
tongued psalmists, in the early Church, were admon- 
ished by the apostle to be intelligible, as well as fervent, 
and on no pretence to intrude mere private rhapsody 
into public worship. And how much less excusable is 
any such abuse or misuse of gifts in a modern assembly? 
If it be granted that the minister or the chorister "edifieth 
himself," can it be said that "the church is edified"? 
And when it is plain that neither party is edified; that 
the public praises are a mere display of musical art, 
and the public prayers a mere exposure* of personal 
feelings, and even conceits, prejudices, and errors, 
"how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned 
(laymen or private person) say Amen ?" We sometimes 
hear the devotions criticised not less freely than the 
sermon as "interesting," "impressive," "beautiful," 
"eloquent," or the reverse of these. Is it conceivable 
that this was what the Apostle meant by "excelling in 
spiritual gifts, to the edifying of the Church," or can 
such performances themselves, in any proper sense, be 
regarded as "social acts of homage to the Most High 
God"? 

And the natural effect of this vicarious system has 
been, not only to rob the people of their prayers and 



REMEDIES UNDER THE DIRECTORY. 37 



praises, but to destroy all wholesome relish on theii 
part for more congregational worship, if not, in some 
cases, to foster a depraved taste for the impressive, 
rather than the expressive forms of religious service. 
How could this be otherwise? The worshipper, from 
being a passive auditor, easily becomes a mere critic 
of the whole performance, and craves only what shall 
pleasantly affect his ear or his imagination, or readily 
fall in with his taste and prejudices. According as the 
choir do their part, well or ill, he approves or disap- 
proves. If his devotional feeling is sometimes stirred 
by the preacher, it is at other times hindered. And 
thus he becomes more regardful of the human agents 
in worship, than of the Divine majesty and presence, 
and loses that sense of individual responsibility, which 
would be sustained and kept awake, were he expressing 
his own feeling by actually taking part, audibly and 
intelligently, with others in common acts of devotion. 

Now. it must be admitted that these are, to some 
extent, necessary evils, not absolutely peculiar to our 
system of worship ; and that the most direct and effect- 
ive remedy for them is to be sought in the cultivation of 
an earnest and spiritual piety, on the part of both min- 
isters and people. It is, indeed, most true, that did 
both parties habitually live near to God. and come 
together in the church full of the Holy Ghost, our wor- 
shipping assemblies would be shaken as with a mighty 
wind of holy fervor, and pray and sing as with tongues 
of flame; and in times of revival, we are brought to 
some faint appreciation of this lost ideal. But it is 
sheer folly, in the face of such facts as have been 
detailed, to act upon a theory fit only for prophets and 
psalmists, and even by them only too soon and sadly 
perverted; and if we would escape that spasmodic 
type of piety, which at once necessitates and abuses 
revivals of religion, we must not. in ordinary times at 
least, disdain the means of normal, healthy growth and 
culture. 

We would, therefore, advocate the use of any right 
expedients which can be devised for bringing the con» 
gregation into more direct sympathy and outward union 
with the minister, and with one another, in their com- 



88 CONGREGATIONAL NEGLECTS, AND THEIR 



mon devotions. Nothing which can further such im- 
portant ends is too insignificant to be considered. In 
social services, such a trifle as gathering together a 
thin, scattered assembly, into a compact body, will free 
them from the sense of formality and coldness that 
would otherwise prevail; and in more public services, a 
similar benefit might be attained by bringing the minis- 
ter down from his stilted pulpit, and the choir out of 
their distant loft, and more visibly and audibly asso- 
ciating them with the mass of their fellow-worshippers. 
But without dwelling upon such details, we will limit 
ourselves to one or two general suggestions, which we 
believe to be legitimate and practical. 

1. It would greatly promote congregational devotion, 
or true public worship, to restore to the whole assembly 
their peculiar privilege and bounden duty of "praising 
God by singing psalms or hymns, publicly in the 
church. "* There is that in the very act of such vocal 
utterance which is fitted to express and nourish holy 
feeling; and choirs, organs, choristers, or precentors, 
only succeed in their vocation in so far as they develope 
it from the mass of worshippers. It is accordingly 
recommended in the Directory, "that we cultivate some 
knowledge of the rules of music," and that "the whole 
congregation should be furnished with books, and 
ought to join in this part of worship;" for both of 
which duties excellent provision has been made in our 
Psalmodist and Hymn Book. It may be questioned, 
however, whether either Rouse's or Watts's version of 
the Psalms is to be preferred, either on the score of 
poetry, or of music, or of devotion, to the literal version 
chanted by the choir and people. The responsive read- 
ing of the Psalter, though only confusing, and anything 
but solemn to one not taking part in it, has, however, 
the recommendation that it engages the attention, and 
helps the devotion of every worshipper; since all may 
read, though all cannot sing. 

2. It would also be a, great improvement, if the con- 
gregation could join more intelligently in the public 
prayers, as well as praises, by being no less positively 



* Directory, Chap. ii. 



REMEDIES UNDER THE DIRECTORY. 



S9 



associated with the minister than with the chorister. 
We cannot see any such intrinsic difference between tha 
two services as to demand the diverse practice respect- 
ing them. If it is indispensable, in the nature of the 
case, to extemporize the prayers, why not also to impro- 
vise the hymns? or if an assembly may devoutly use 
forms of praise, may they not as devoutly use forms of 
prayer? The mere intellectual effort of composing or 
following extemporaneous productions, in the solemn 
act of public devotion, is very often unfavorable to sim- 
ple, earnest feeling. The listener becomes entangled 
with the speaker in sentence-making, or is repelled by 
expressions or sentiments which, to say the least, he 
cannot readily adopt and offer up as his own. But, 
could both parties agree, as touching what things they 
will ask, and unite together in the use of the same 
words, there would certainly be less to hinder or dis- 
tract their common act of worship. 

Whether audible responses ought also to be added, as 
a further help to congregational devotion, is a question 
of usage and taste, rather than of principle. It cannot 
be denied, that in the ancient Jewish and early Chris- 
tian assemblies, the " private person," as the phrase, 
"he that occupieth the room of the unlearned" might 
be properly rendered, was wont literally to " say Amen." 
And when we hear the fervid ejaculations of the Method- 
ists on the one side, and the methodical responses of 
Episcopalians on the other, we cannot affirm the custom 
to be in itself either undevout or indecorous. Nor can 
it be proved to be wholly un-presbyterian. In our early 
liturgies, says the author of "Eutaxia," "the prayers, 
by constant use made familiar to the people, were to be 
followed silently, or in subdued tones." The minister 
invited the people to make the Confession of Sins, "fol- 
lowing in heart these words," or "sincerely saying." 
And perhaps this mental accompaniment and silent 
Amen are to be preferred, on the whole, either to the 
noisy outcries or the confused murmuring of our neigh- 
bors. The main thing is, that the attention and devo- 
tion be easily sustained, and whether the voice join or 
respond, is immaterial, if only the minister's form, (foi 
some form every minister does and must have,) be so 



40 CONGREGATIONAL NEGLECTS, 



simple, suitable, and well-known, that each worshippe* 
can follow it without intellectual fatigue or confusion, 
and with a fully assenting mind. 

Besides the Amen in ancient worship was used the 
Selah, or pause for silent devotion, which though 
also designed as a "rest" in the musical performance 
of praise, might equally well, in accordance with 
modern usage, be employed for prayer. As there 
are times or moods in which the minister will be 
prompted to fresh, unpremeditated utterances, for 
which no formulary can make due provision, so there 
may be occasions, in solemn assemblies, especially in 
time of communion at the Lord's table, when intervals 
of silence will conduce far more than speech to true 
spiritual worship. Let us not disdain devotional helps, 
from whatever source they may be taken, but remember 
that no usage becomes widely prevalent which is not 
founded in some legitimate want of human nature, 
whether it be the speechless Quaker meeting, or the 
revival Exhortation, or the random Amen and Hallelu- 
jah of the Methodist, or the formal Litany and Collects 
of the Episcopalian. It is rather the dictate of wisdom 
to cull out the good from the evil, and, if possible, avoid 
the abuses and extremes of a partial system, by com- 
bining occasional free prayer of the minister, and silent 
prayer of the worshiper, with stated prayers for the 
whole congregation. 

3. It would complete the ideal we are framing, if the 
congregation, besides thus participating both in the 
prayers and in the praises, could also intelligently fol- 
low the minister through his scheme of lessons, psalms, 
and hymns, for each Sunday of the yearly course, by 
means of a service-book or manual, companion to our 
Directory and Hymn-book. Whatever might be the 
advantage to the pastor of such a scheme, that to the 
people would be ten-fold greater, as it would bring them 
into perfect sympathy with him, and render their public 
worship what it ought to be — a systematic instruction 
in the whole letter of Scripture, together with an intel- 
ligent offering up unto God of those ordinary prayers 
and praises which are proper to every Christian assem- 
bly. 



A FREE LITURGY WITH THE DIRECTORY. 41 



In a word, supposing such a system of divine service 
to have been composed or compiled, in any case -where 
the parties should be mutually so disposed, the minister 
and congregation might agree, under the general rules 
of our Directory, (as, indeed, has already been done in 
at least one instance,*) to conduct their public devotions 
by the aid of a liturgy. There are, we are aware, grave 
prejudices and objections to this, which ought to be 
duly weighed; and we therefore propose to consider 
them in another chapter. 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE CONSISTENCY OF A TREE LITURGY WITH THE 
DIRECTORY. 

' ; The Director for Public Worship," as the name itself 
implies, is a manual of directions for the regulation of 
ministers and congregations in performing divine ser- 
vice, and differs from a Liturgy in being a prescription 
of thoughts rather than of words, of rules rather than 
of materials of devotion; it being left to the discretion 
of the parties whether such materials shall be extem- 
porized or formulated. The use of a Prayer-book in 
connection with it would, it is plain, be no more incon- 
sistent with its theory or structure than is the use of a 
Hymn-book, provided the prayers, as the hymns, were 
orthodox and suitable: and such a combination, we 
know, actually prevailed at one time in the Church of 
England.f 



* See the " Church Book of St. Peter's Church/' Rochester. X. Y. 

f While Presbytery was established it was made a penal offence to 
use the Prayer-book, as while Episcopacy was established it was 
made a penal offence to hold a Prayer-meeting ; but there were then, 
as there are now, some, both Episcopalians and Presbyterians, wro 
took the liberty to have either, according to circumstances. Com- 
pare Lightfoot's Journal of the Assembly of Divines: Complete 
Works, vol. siii. p. 323. 341. and Lathbury'g History of the Prayer* 
Book, p. 290; Hall's Lit. Reliq., vol. i. p. 38. 



42 



THE CONSISTENCY OP A 



We are met, however, on the threshold of the ques- 
tion, by a prejudice and a misconception, neither of 
which we believe to be reasonable or truly Presbyterian. 

Of the prejudice, which does undoubtedly prevail, let 
it be said, in the first place, that it is by no means uni- 
versal, but has taken root most widely and deeply in the 
Scotch and Scotch-Irish portions of our Church. We 
do not wish to be misunderstood. It is one of the chief 
excellencies of our system, whereby its true catholicity 
is approved, that it is of no mere national or local 
origin, and cannot be absorbed in any single ecclesias- 
tical organization, such as the Church of Rome, or the 
Church of England, or the Church of Scotland ; but 
flourishes in all lands, in connection with all races, and 
under all political systems. Besides the Scotch type 
of Presbytery, we have the Dutch, the German, the 
French, and the English; and these several elements 
have been so fused together in our American commu- 
nion, and in almost every Presbyterian family that has 
been long enough in the country, that no true son of 
such a Church can be suspected of blaming or praising 
one to the disparagement or advantage of the other. 
While, therefore, we hold to the staunch orthodoxy of 
John Knox in opposing all relics of Papal superstition 
and error in the public worship of God, we may, 
now at least, demur to his destructive zeal against 
a certain Book of Common Prayers, about which his 
conscience was straitened in the time of the Frankfort 
persecutions,* but concerning which, even then, he 
could draw from his teacher, John Calvin, f no harsher 
sentence than that it contained multas tolerabiles ineptias 
(many endurable trifles) ; and if our subsequent history 



* Knox, however, was not opposed to the contents of the Prayer* 
book in toto, but rather to its accompanying ceremonies. He could, 
and did, use it when in England, omitting, by permission of Cran- 
mer, the parts he disliked; and his reason for not accepting a bene« 
fice in London was, that he was "not willing to be bound to use 
King Edward's book entire." See "The Puritans and Queen Eliza- 
beth," by Samuel Hopkins, pp. 77, 78, vol. i. 

f After Knox had returned to Scotland, Calvin again writes to 
him in 1561: "With regard to ceremonies, I trust, even should yon 
displease many, that you will moderate your rigor." Calvin's Let* 
ters. Trans, by Jule3 Bonnet. Vol. iv. ». 184. 



FREE LITURGY WITH THE DIRECTORY. 43 



as to other church questions be all that we could desire, 
yet we may begin to query whether we have succeeded 
as well in adjusting the liturgical problem : and whether, 
upon the whole, such learned and godly Presbyterians 
as Thomas Manton, Edmund Calamy, William Bates, 
Richard Baxter, did not show better logic and wisdom 
in striving to purge out the tolerabiles ineptias, than to 
throw away the gold with the dross. The truth is, that 
throughout all these troubles, our Church was passing 
between the two fires of Prelacy and Independency, 
liturgy and conventicle — escaping unhurt, indeed, 
though not without marks of the flame; and to this 
day the motto of the mother Kirk still suits the 
dilemma of her American daughter — fflec tamen con- 
sumebatur, with the difference, that we now lean too 
near to the Puritan, to be in any danger of the Rit- 
ualist. 

But, in the second place, it could easily be shown 
that even our Scotch prejudice against liturgies is both 
unintelligent and inconsistent. The simple fact is, that 
the Church of Scotland, although at present non- 
liturgical, is not, and never has been anti-liturgical, 
but was driven into its negative position by "the un- 
justifiable efforts of Laud and his master to force a 
justly obnoxious liturgy upon a free people and as 
cne of the ill effects of that unhappy controversy, we 
inherit a morbid terror of everything approaching to 
form in public worship. But the earlier usage, even in 
the "days of Knox, as we have seen, was very different. 
" The Book of Common Order, or the Order of the 
English Kirk at Geneva, whereof John Knox was Min- 
ister: approved by the famous and learned man, John 
Calvin; received arid used by the Reformed Kirk of 
Scotland, and ordinarily prefixed to the Psalms in 
Metre: A. D. 1600," has all the elements of a complete 
liturgy, and contains, In common with the Prayer-book, 
as parts of the ordinary service, a Confession of Sins, 
the Lord's Prayer, the Apostles' Creed, a Prayer for 
the whole estate of Christ's Church, &c, besides the 
marriage service nearly verbatim, the ceremony of the 



• Eutaxia, p. 250. 



44 



THE CONSISTENCY OF A 



ring excepted. We have seen under what pressure of 
Prelacy on the one side, and dragging of Independency 
on the other, we were at length forced away from both 
these liturgies into the Directory. But it is surely 
neither wise nor consistent to continue under the 
dominion of a prejudice due to such causes. 

There is, however, in connection with this prejudice, 
a misconception which has, no doubt, tended to 
strengthen and perpetuate it, and which may even 
remain after it has been exposed, or where it does not 
prevail. We refer to the common mistake of confound- 
ing a liturgy with an artistic ritual or elaborate cere- 
monial service. The very word is associated in some 
minds with those objects of Puritan dislike, the altar, 
the surplice, the sign of the cross, bowing in the creed, 
and all the paraphernalia of a scenic worship. What 
has been described, however, in these pages, has no- 
thing to do with such accessories, and would be 
imperilled by admixture with them.* We have advo- 
cated no particular style of church architecture and 
furniture, or of ministerial dress, or of congregational 
behavior, and have proposed no innovations in such 
matters; but, leaving them where the Directory leaves 
them, have simply maintained that there might be, and, 
in some cases, there ought to be, in connection with the 



* It was from no dislike of art, in itself and in its own sphere, but 
only from an anxiety to guard the more vital interests of religion, 
that the Calvinistic cultus, in distinction from the Lutheran, be* 
came so strongly impressed with an aspect of sobriety and sim- 
plicity. "We must not forget," says a learned critic of both 
systems, " that it was people of the South, among whom Calvin as a 
Reformer specially labored. Ceremonies which, in a nation with the 
more earnest and tranquil character of the Germans, Luther could 
retain, without a thought of their being a"bused, not without ground 
appeared dubious in the case of the most excitable Southern tem- 
perament, which only too soon would have clung to that which is 
outward; and since Calvin well knew that Catholicisr^. with all its 
gorgeous splendor, and its superstitions resting on aim pretentions 
ancTemotiiTns, was tne offspring of the glowing South, he must, even 
on this ground, have found it necessary, in order to preserve the 
evangelical doctrine from all commingling with Catholicism, to pre- 
sent it outwardly also in rugged antithesis to that system." The 
Sunday Service according to the Liturgies of the Churches of tha 
Reformation, by Kev. C. P Krauth, D.D., Editor of the Lutheran 
and Missionary, 



FREE LITURGY WITH THE DIRECTORY. 45 



faithful preaching of God's word, a system of common 
devotions for both minister and people, whereby they 
could methodically become acquainted with the Holy 
Scriptures, and*statedly, by simple spiritual acts of 
worship, offer up their public prayers and praises 
"with the spirit and with the understanding also." 
With the Presbyterian divines at the Savoy Conference, 
we have judged that "Prayer, confession, thanksgiving, 
reading of the Scriptures, and administration of the 
sacraments, in the plainest and simplest manner, were 
matter enough to furnish out a sufficient liturgy, though 
nothing either of private opinion, or of church pomp, 
of garments, or prescribed gestures, of imagery, of 
music, of matter concerning the dead, of many super- 
fluities which creep into the Church under the name of 
order and decency, did interpose itself."* 

Such a liturgy we believe to be not only consistent 
with true Presbyterianism, but a legitimate develop- 
ment of it, which has hitherto been hindered by unto- 
ward influences, and which is already urgently needed 
to defend the weak point of our system, and equip it 
for the work of church- extension in all directions. And 
its judicious introduction by agreement of the two par- 
ties concerned, need not occasion any interference with 
the rights of those congregations which prefer a differ- 
ent usage, nor any more serious diversity than already, 
and of necessity, prevails in our practice. 

Of the objections that may be raised to such a liturgy, 
the most plausible is, that it would tend to formalism in 
worship. We do not wish to slur this objection, but to 
sift it as thoroughly as can be, in the absence of a fair 
experiment, by which alone the question could be 
decided. It would indeed be but right to first take 
into account the alternative evils to which we are 
exposed. There may be such things as hypocrisy, 
cant, extravagance, and superstition, as well as formal- 
ity in divine service; and when there is no fresh 
impulse or occasion of devotion, it will not be strange, 
it will simply be unavoidable, that, in the absence of a 



* The Exceptions against the Book of Common Prayer. Docv? 
ment XV. 



46 



THE CONSISTENCY OF A 



well-ordered form to excite and cherish holy feeling, 
there should be forced or feigned excitement. We are 
not speaking of what ought to be, but of what are, the 
facts. Let us not deceive ourselves, but look at the 
question on all sides, and we may possibly reach the 
conclusion, that at times a liturgy might prove a help 
rather than a hinderance to true spiritual worship. When 
the minister's spirit is clouded and heavy, his written 
sermon is a great relief, and may even gradually warm 
him up into genuine fervor, and his whole audience with 
him ; or if he eschew preparation and paper, and halt 
and trip in his utterance, large excuses can still be 
made for one who comes speaking to the people in the 
name of God; but when he turns to speak to God in the 
name of the people, is it perfectly reasonable that the 
devotions of some hundreds of worshippers should be 
left dependent upon his bodily condition ? The spirit 
may be willing, but the flesh is weak. He might, 
perhaps, take some old familiar words in company with 
them, and at least not hinder their devotion or his own; 
but to absolutely make new prayers for them, ex tempore, 
every Sunday, under dread of falling into a form of 
prayer — alas! is it not enough that he should make two 
able and eloquent sermons? - 

Some form there must be, in all edifying worship. 
Without it, we relapse towards Methodist extravagance 
or Quaker apathy. Some form there is in every pas- 
tor's mode of conducting worship. He glides into a 
service almost as stereotyped as the dreaded liturgy. 
It is, after all, the thing without the name ; and the 
only question really worth considering, is, whether that 
liturgy shall be a good one or a bad one. The advo- 
cates of a supposed impromptu service, springing up in 
perennial freshness, and ceaseless variety, do not seem 
rightly to distinguish between public and private devo- 
tion, or between ordinary and extraordinary states of 
religious feeling. In social meetings, especially during 
seasons of revival, or on marked providential occasions, 
the whole outward expression of worship will indeed be 
free and artless, and any thing like forms would be felt 
as an intolerable bondage; but in large assemblies, con- 
vened for stated acts of homage, there cannot but be 



FREE LITURGY WITH THE DIRECTORY, 47 



more of system, sameness, and pre-arrangement. Nof 
is it easy to see what advantage would be gained by an 
ingenious variety, or capricious novelty, so far as that 
is possible in reference to the ordinary devotions of a 
congregation, when there might be customary forms of 
expressing them, which have been used and sanctioned 
by the learned and godly of all churches and ages; 
which being largely taken from the very words of Scrip- 
ture, concisely express the wants, the fears, the doubts, 
the hopes, and the joys of all Christians; and which 
are marked by a simple majesty of style, a chaste fer- 
vor, tenderness, and solemnity, utterly unknown in 
any. modern compositions. In the open, voluntary use 
of such helps to devotion, both parties might find a 
mutual relief and profit, which must be foregone so 
long as either the people are at the mercy of random 
effusions, or the minister is hampered with a surrepti- 
tious form of his own. 

We may add, that the objection now under consider- 
ation is not supported by facts. Some of the most 
spiritually-minded men that ever lived, have used and 
contended for a liturgy ; but formalists will be formal 
under any system. 

Another and kindred objection is, that a liturgy 
would repress all originality on the part of the minister, 
and foster a deadly monotony in his services. The life 
of public worship, it is argued, consists in that vivid 
impression made by an earnest speaker, with heart 
aglow, and voice and tone spontaneously giving forth 
every petition as an expression of his own personal 
feeling. Such prayers, it is said, are more "interest- 
ing," "solemn," or "touching," than any recited form, 
however appropriate. We admit this personal or indi- 
vidual element to be a great advantage in the sermon, 
and even, with proper limitations, in the service. The 
very best preaching and praying are confessedly extem- 
poraneous, and also the very worst. It depends entirely 
upon the person, the mood, the occasion, and the cir- 
cumstances ; and when all of these are not perfectly 
favorable, then the question presents another aspect 
The Apostle's rule is, "Let all things be done to edify- 
ing;" and there may be, as we have seen, individual 



48 



THE CONSISTENCY OF A 



peculiarities or originalities in public prayer which are 
not edifying. Because the broken, confused utterances 
of some private suppliant are far better for him than 
any form, it does not follow that they will also be more 
edifying to a whole assembly, nor is it quite clear that 
any sentimental advantage or pathetic interest gained 
by their exposure, is not more than balanced by the 
risk of a certain vanity, embarrassment, or indelicacy, 
on the one side, together with a certain admiration, 
regret, or pity, on the other. Ah ! it may be pardona- 
ble in us to like to hear a good sermon ; but is it wor- 
shipping God to like to hear how well a man can pray? 
and do we not sometimes see the "gift of prayer" with- 
out the grace, as well as the grace without the gift? 

Moreover, the objection we are considering is valid 
only on the assumption, that the minister is so slavishly 
tied down to rules and forms, that he cannot, when the 
fresh mood or new occasion prompts him, break away 
from them into more spontaneous services. It would, 
of course, be impossible to frame either directions or 
samples for every possible emergency ; and the only 
proper design of a liturgy is, to give edifying expression 
to those stated public devotions, which are in their 
nature fixed and invariable, while all the benefits of the 
most informal worship may still be sufficiently retained 
in the lecture and prayer-meetings during the week, or 
in the second service on the Lord's day, as well as by 
blending free with stated prayer, on all occasions, at 
discretion. 

A far more specious scruple is, that liturgies foster an 
"aesthetical" form of devotion, or cultivate the taste 
and imagination at the expense of the heart and con- 
science. Some persons, it is asserted, are of a liturgi- 
cal temperament, and by dwelling critically upon the 
form in distinction from the matter or spirit of worship, 
at length become so fastidious, that they are in danger 
of making their whole religion little better than one of 
the fine arts ; and this, it is maintained, is a weakness 
and folly, which ought to be mortified rather than 
humored. 

It need not be denied that there may be an excess of 
even so good a thing as good taste; but, on the othe* 



FREE LITURGY WITH THE DIRECTORY. 49 



hand, it must be confessed that the holiest things may 
be spoiled by so trifling a thing as a little bad taste. 
And when Presbyterian congregations, on all sides, are 
to be found worshipping in imitation Parthenons 
and Westminsters, with the aid of costly music and 
oratory, we may fairly question, what should be the 
literary character of their liturgy; and, whether it 
would not be wiser, safer, and more consistent to give 
vent to the irrepressible aesthetic element in the 
form of a reasonable service, than to lavish it upon 
artistic surroundings, so little in keeping with the tra- 
ditional simplicity of our worship. 

It is also sometimes objected that forms of devotion, 
and especially those in the Prayer-book, are suited only 
to the worldly classes of society, and to such as are 
content with a superficial type of Christianity. Even 
Episcopalian dissent, we are told, with the prestige of 
a court ritual, is undermining "the Church" in Scot- 
land ; the whole fashionable class in our own country 
are assuming a liturgical mode of worship as one of 
their prerogatives ; and its general adoption in the pres- 
ent state of things, could only relax the terms of com- 
munion, and obscure or weaken the vital distinction 
between the Church and the world. 

We have no disposition to make light of such appre- 
hensions. Let it be freely granted, as experience both in 
the Old and the New world has shown, that an imposed 
liturgy does thus cramp the evangelizing power of the 
ministry, and foster caste, fashion, and worldliness; 
yet this could not be charged against an optional 
liturgy to be used or forborne, according to the vary- 
ing exigency of places and occasions. Nor should we 
disguise it from ourselves that, without some flexible 
agency of this kind, we are in danger of losing our hold 
upon those educated classes who really form the brain 
and virtue of the state. It is in fact the mission of a 
true Church of Christ to embrace within itself both 
extremes of the social scale, and so mould and re adjust 
all ranks and conditions, as to render them but various 
members of one and the same mystical body. 

As to the objection, that it would cost us something 
of church pride and consistency, or expose us to ridicule 

D 



60 



THE WARRANT FOR _ THE 



as imitators, if this be so, it is enough to say, in view of 
the historical facts already presented, that the sooner all 
parties are rid of such ideas the better. 

The only remaining difficulty we now think of is, the 
want of a suitable manual or service-book, sanctioned 
by sufficient Presbyterian authority to insure its ortho- 
doxy, and encourage its use. We believe this objection 
to be the most serious that can be raised; but by no 
means insuperable, as we hope may appear in our next 
chapter. 



CHAPTER VIL 

THE WARRANT FOR THE PRESBYTERIAN VERSION 07 
THE PRAYER-BOOK. 

In our previous essays we have advocated these three 
means of correcting and improving our public worship: 
1st. In all cases a careful attention to the rules and 
suggestions of the Directory; 2d. In many cases, a sys- 
tem of services, with forms or examples, composed or 
compiled by the minister for his own assistance ; 3d. In 
some cases, where the parties are so agreed, a liturgy, 
or scheme of common devotions, for both minister and 
congregation, containing not merely psalms and hymns, 
and Directory, but tables of Scripture lessons, forms of 
stated prayer, and of administration of the sacraments, 
and other rites of the Church. Advancing a step far- 
ther, we desire now to show that either or all of these 
advantages can be secured in an edition of the Book of 
Common Prayer, as revised by the Royal Commission of 
Presbyterian Divines, at the Savoy Conference, A. D. 
1661, and in agreement with our Directory for Public 
Worship. 

As this was with the writer no foregone conclusion 
but a wholly unforeseen result of some studies and 
efforts in the direction of a truly Presbyterian liturgy, 
he begs the reader, who has followed him thus far, to 



PRESBYTERIAN PRAYER-BOOK. 



51 



candidly review the several historical facts upon which 
it is based, and the arguments upholding it. 

1. The Prayer-book was set aside for the Directory by 
the Westminster divines on avowed principles which ad?ni\ 
of its resumption. Iu their Preface, after recounting the 
evils then arising out of its forcible imposition upon the 
cL arches, they thus declared their motives : 

"Upon these, and many the like weighty consideration?, in refer- 
ence to the whole Book in general, and because of divers particulars 
contained in it: not from any love to novelty, or intention to dis- 
parage our first reformers, (of whom we are persuaded that were 
they now alive, they would join with us in this work, and whom we 
acknowledge as excellent instruments, raised by G-od. to begin the 
purgiug and building of his house, and desire they may be had of us 
and posterity in everlasting remembrance, with thankfulness and 
honorj but that we may. in some measure, answer the gracious 
providence of God. which at this time calleth upon us for further 
reformation, and may satisfy our own consciences, and answer the 
expectation of other reformed churche-. and the desires of many of 
the godly among ourselves, and withal give some public testimony 
of our endeavors for uniformity in Divine worship, which we have 
promised in our 1 Solemn League and Covenant/ We have, after 
earnest and frequent calling upon the name of God. and after much 
consultation, not with flesh and blood, but with his holy word, 
resolved to lay aside the former liturgy, with the many rites and 
ceremonies, formerly used in the worship of God. and have agreed 
i;pon this following Directory for all the parts of public worship, at 
oidinary and extraordinary times/' 

We believe that both the spirit and the letter of these 
cautious declarations favor the point we are arguing. 
When it is remembered that the Directory was mainly a 
semi-political device,* resulting from the opposite force3 
of prelacy and independency, and that it utterly failed 
to secure the 4i covenanted uniformity," for which it 
was originally framed ; and when it is remembered that 
the objections therein enumerated against the Prayer- 
book, such as the imposition of things indifferent as 



♦The Parlimentary order to the Assembly of Divines was, that 
they should confer and treat among themselves - concerning the 
Directory of Worship, or liturgy hereafter to be in the Church/' Th« 
subject occupied them more than two months, and the result was a 
compromise of the Scotch Commissioners with the Independents, and 
of both with the English Presbyterians. To escape dicusrion a very 
disproportionate number of the fo r mer, were appointed on the Com- 
mittee to prepare the Preface. See Hetherington's History of West- 
minster Assembly, pp. 153. 154. Li^htfoot's Journal of Westminster 
Assembly, Vol. niL p. 17 . Baird's Bb^k of Public Prayer, Intro, p. 



52 



THE WARRANT FOR THE 



terms of communion, the suppression of free prayer and 
preaching, the obtrusion of new papistical ceremonies, 
and the maintenance of an unedifying, beneficed clergy, 
were chargeable to the mere political and sectarian 
surroundings of the book, rather than to its contents, 
duly purged and amended ; and when, moreover, it is 
remembered that we, in this land and age of greater 
light and freedom, are no longer harassed by the unto- 
ward influences, and driven to the rash extremes, which 
this liturgy then occasioned, and that all former difficul- 
ties in regard to its use, in our present necessities and 
opportunities, have subsided into mere inherited preju- 
dices; we shall surely not be inconsistent, to say the 
least, if we return to it as to the work of our revered 
forefathers, and thereby again illustrate our dearly 
bought liberty, as well to resume and modify it, as to 
lay it aside according to the varying exigency of times 
and occasions. And, lest it be thought we misrepresent 
them, let the simple fact which afterwards followed be 
next considered. 

2. The Prayer-book was actually revised by the framers 
of the Directory, and their associates, with a view to its 
resumption. Among the Presbyterian Commissioners at 
the Savoy Conference, were some of the most distin- 
guished Westminster divines;* and their own immor- 
tal writings still rank as the authorized standards of 
our church, f Both as scholars and theologians they 



* Tuckney, Calamy, Spurstow, Wallis, Case, Reynolds, Newcomen, 
Con ant. Lightfoot, etc. 

f Tuckney and Reynolds were members of the Committee which 
framed our Confession of Faith. Tuckney, Arrowsmith, and New- 
comen were the committee to prepare the Larger Catechism, the 
principal part of which was in the very words of Tuckney. 'Ihus 
the name first among the revisers of the Prayer-book, had also been 
first among the framers of our standards. See History of the West- 
minster Assembly, compiled for the Board of Publication, from the 
best authorities, pp. 34S, 383. The composition of the Shorter Cate- 
chism is commonly attributed to Wallis, see Hetherington's History 
of the Westminster Assembly, p. 261. Reid's Memoirs of the Lives 
and writings of the Westminster Divines, p. 18 7 . 

See the Non-Conformist's Memorial"; being an account of the 
Lives, Sufferings and Printed Works, of the two thousand Ministers 
fleeted from the Church of England. 



PRESBYTERIAN PRAYER-BOOK. 53 



were unequalled,* either then or since, and were not 
despised esrcn by their adversaries, "who proffered them 
the highest honors of that Church establishment which, 
with the spirit of martyrs, they afterwards abandoned. 
It cannot be charged, much less proved upon such men, 
that they were of a compliant or compromising temper. 
While, as they declared, they had "not the least 
thought of depraving or reproaching the Book of Com- 
mon Prayer," yet their "exceptions" against it were 
not only "general," but "particular" or verbal, with a 
degree of scrupulous minuteness that would now be 
deemed superfluous; and these "exceptions," having 
never been fairly acted upon by both parties, have come 
down to us without a trace or taint of concession. We 
have, in fact, all the materials of a thoroughly Presby- 
terian edition of the Prayer-book in the form of such 
historical documents as the following: 

1. "The King's Warrant for the Conference at the Savoy." 

2. "The Exceptions of the Presbyterian Ministers against tha 
Book of Common Prayer," (including a written criticism upon both 
text and rubric, with proposed alterations, emendations, and addi- 
tions.) 

3. " The Answer of the Bishops to the Exceptions of the Minis- 
ters." 

4. ,; The Petition for Peace and Concord., presented to the Bishops, 
with the proposed Reformation of the Liturgy." 

5. "The Rejoinder of the Ministers to the Answer of the Bishops 
— the Grand Debate between the most Reverend the Bishops and 
the Presbyterian Divines, appointed by his sacred Majesty, as Com- 
missioners for the Review and Alteration of the Book of Common 
Prayer, &c, being an exact account of their whole proceedings. 
The most perfect copy. London, 1661 : pp. 1 — l-iS.'-f 



*See "An Account of the Ministers, Lecturers, Masters and Fel- 
lows of Colleges who were silenced or ejected by the Act of Unifor- 
mity in 1661. Designed for the preserving to Posterity, the Memory 
of their Names. Characters, Writings, and Sufferings,"'* in two vols., 
by Edmund Calamy, D. D. London, 1713. Also the same enlarged, 
and edited by Palmer, in 3 vols., entitled the " Xon-Conformist's 
Memorial, being an account of the Lives, Sufferings, and Printed 
Works, of the two thousand Ministers ejected from the Church of 
England." 

f As collateral aids may also be used, the present English Prayer- 
book with its Presbyterian emendations, for which the most rev- 
erend Bishopi in their Preface (see the English edition) thought 
fit to apologize : the proposed Prayer-book of 1 c S ? , which wf# framed 
in consultation with the leaders of the ejected Presbyterians, and 
(rhich, in the opinion of Calamy, would have satisfied more than 



54 



THE WARRANT FOR THE 



The Book, as revised and amended by the aid of these 
documents, could not be chargeable with any private or 
modern fancies, but would embody the matured sugges- 
tions of learned and godly men, who were lawfully 
charged with the work of revision, and who, in that good 
work, endured great temptation and persecution. And 
the whole, besides being a worthy memorial of our 
Church forefathers, would be at least as truly Presby- 
terian as our present service-book, which contains a 
Directory of Worship, originally framed by ordained 
ministers of the Church of England, "with the assist- 
ance of Commissioners from the Church of Scotland," * 
and a collection of hymns compiled from all accessible 
sources. But the last shred of an objection, on the 
score of consistent Presbyterianism, must disappear 
before our next consideration. 

3. As the Directory is but a skeleton of the Prayer- 
book, so the Prayer-book itself is but a compilation which 
is more Presbyterian than Episcopalian in its sources. We 
mean simply to say that, leaving out of view those por- 
tions which belong exclusively to neither party, but hav3 
been sanctioned and used by both, (being derived from 
ancient Christian liturgies, and from Lutheran formu- 
laries,) the remainder, which is by no means inconsider- 
able in character or quantity, is almost entirely Presby- 
terian. This is unquestionably true of the Book as 
revised by the Savoy Presbyterians, and it is sufficiently 
true for this argument, of the Book as it is now familiar 
to the American reader ; as will appear from the follow- 
ing general reference to its historical sources, f 

The Exhortation, General Confession, Declaration of 
Absolution, and General Thanksgiving, in the Order for 
Daily Prayer, and the Ten Commandments as they 
appear in the Ante-Communion Office, are admitted to be 



two-thirds of their number; and the different Presbyterian editions, 
dating before the Savoy Conference, especially the Second Book of 
King Edward VI., to which the Presbyterian Commissioners con- 
stantly appealed. 

* Of the one hundred and twenty divines in the Westminster 
Assembly, five were Commissioners from the Church of Scotland, 
six or seven were Independents, several were Episcopalians, und the 
remainder were English Presbyterians. 

f See Chapter ix. for a more particular analysis. 



PRESBYTERIAN* PRAYER-BOOK. 



55 



•f Calvinistic origin. All that remains (except the 
apocryphal Song and Lessons.) viz.. the Te Deum, the 
Litany, the Creeds, the Collects. Epistles, and Gospels, 
have passed from their ancient sources through Presby- 
terian sanctions, and under a Presbyterian revision, to 
their present form. In other words, the whole Lord's 
day service, as usually performed, contains but a single 
prayer* that can be traced to a distinctively Episcopa- 
lian origin; and for the obvious reason, partly, that that 
service was framed before the assertion of Prelacy 
against Presbytery arose, and also that its Protestant 
additions and emendations are almost exclusively from 
Calvinistic sources. 

In the occasional Offices of Baptism. Matrimony, Visi- 
tation of the Sick, and Burial of the Dead, the question 
of authorship lies between the Calvinist and the Luthe- 
ran, or between the French and the German Protestant, 
rather than between the Presbyterian and the Episcopa- 
lian. While portions of those formularies are clearly 
traceable to the Cologne liturgy of the Calvinistic Bucer 
and Melanchthon. yet, having thus originated outside of 
the pretentious Anglican Prelacy, they belong to the 
general class of Reformed or Protestant /^/2-Episcopal 
rituals, and as such, might have continued in actual use, 
but for certain doubtful expressions and superstitious 
ceremonies, by which they were vitiated, and from which 
our ecclesiastical fathers in the Savoy Conference strove 
to purge them. 

As to the Psalter, it is well known that it was first 
restored to the people, in the form of congregational 
psalmody, in the Church of Geneva, from whence it was 
copied, as a popular element of worship in the English 
churches. 

Of the whole compilation, indeed, except the Ordinal 
or ordination services, and several political or State 
services, added after the Savov Revision, it is safe to 
affirm, that were it amended according to that revision, 
it would be as thoroughly Presbyterian in its historical 
sources sa well as sanctions, and, in fact, in every thing 



♦Even this exception is doubtful. See Chapter ix. "Prsyfr foi 
all Conditions of Men." 



56 



THE WARRANT FOR THE 



but its present popular associations, as the book now 
used in our pulpits and pews, The almost universal 
impression to the contrary has arisen out of the false 
assumption that our forefathers were as much opposed 
io Liturgy as Prelacy, or to the literary contents of the 
Prayer-book, as to the tyrannical statutes and supersti- 
tious rites accompanying it. It is forgotten, or no longer 
known among us, that the Presbyterian Church in Eng- 
land, with her two thousand clergy, her scholars, divines, 
and patriots of illustrious memory, her prestige of learn- 
ing, rank, and power, in the act of giving up, for com? 
science' sake, the high places and rich livings of an estab- 
lishment which owed its restoration to her loyalty, also 
abandoned a liturgy to which her ministers had an 
hereditary right, upon the basis of which their adver- 
saries were legally compelled to meet them in conference 
for their satisfaction, and which, at the same time, they 
declared they had "not the least thought of depraving 
or reproaching." And this hard alternative* into which 
they were driven by the exigencies of a State religion, in 
an age of sectarian rancor and violence, we have thought- 
lessly accepted and continued as our sole, normal con- 
dition. But surely, after two centuries of peaceful 
progress, in another country, under a government of 
equal laws, and in the midst of spontaneous tendencies 
towards a free, spiritual liturgy, it is high time to ask if 
there be not some safe mean between the wild extremes 
from which we have so happily escaped, and whether 



* The question has been asked, why the Presbyterian clergy did 
not set up their revised Liturgy or reformed Prayer book, outside of 
the Established Church? But it must be remembered that like the 
Scotch Presbyterians, they contended for the principle of an Estab- 
lishment, and but a short time before, by Acts of King and Parlia- 
ment, legally formed part of it; and moreover, it was only through 
political intrigue that they lost their former control of it; the "Act 
of Uniformity," in plain violation of the Royal Declaration, having 
been expressly so framed as to drive them beyond its pale, strip them 
of their orders, and place them under civil disabilities which were 
only removed by the "Act of Toleration" in 1698, when an effort 
was made, by a new Commission, for their " Comprehension " in the 
Establishment; but owing to various causes, "this great and good 
work at that time miscarried." See Archbishop Tillotson's Works, 
5, 12. London ed. 1752, and Calamy's Abridgment of Baxter'* 

ist. of his Life and Times, p. 317. 



PRESBYTERIAN PRAYER-BOOK. 



5? 



history has not reserved it as a just providential com- 
pensation, that we should now enter into the labors, 
while we vindicate the fame, of those faithful men " of 
whom the world was not worthy." 

4. Our last and conclusive argument is, that the 
Prayer-book, thus revised, with our American Directory 
in place of the English Rubric, is the only Presbyterian 
liturgy that is either desirable or practicable. After what 
we have stated as to the origin and history of that com- 
pilation, we shall not now be suspected of any disloyalty 
in affirming that, with all its faults, it is simply incom- 
parable. No one who studies the subject, historically 
and philosophically, can fail to see that it meets the 
needs of ordinary divine service better than any other 
formulary that has ever been devised, or become widely 
prevalent. A fresh worker in this field, taking as his 
ideal of Christian worship a scheme of stated forms, 
which should express, in simple Scripture phrase, the 
common needs of a church assembly, and be redolent of 
the communion of saints in all lands and ages — such a 
worker, after all the thought and research he can bestow 
upon the question, at length finds that he has been antici- 
pated by a book which is framed to fit the mould of the 
universal Christian heart, which is wrought out of the 
warp and woof of ancient and modern piety, which con- 
tains the cream of all liturgies, both of our own and of 
other churches, and which has lingering about it a savor 
of pure and fervent devotion belonging to no other unin- 
spired composition. If he loves our English Bible, he 
must also love that English liturgy which was the pro- 
duct of the same age, and in the same sacred style. To 
attempt now any better devotional phraseology would 
be as vain as to frame a better version of the Holy Scrip>- 
tures. To attempt any different compilation would be 
but to glean in fields already reaped and garnered; 
and to attempt any ingenious recomposition of its mate- 
rials, would be but to incur the odium of imitation or 
invasion, where we ought rather to assert an original 
right of property and inheritance. It has, in fact, been 
the chief mistake of our liturgical writers hitherto, that, 
from a well-meant fear of concession or intrusion, they 
have so generally striven to ignore a collection which has 



58 



THE WARRANT FOR THE 



been culled from the gathered wisdom and piety of the 
Church universal, and which, after all that has been 
said and done against it, has continued, for these seve- 
ral centuries past, the only Christian liturgy deserving 
the name.* 

We know very well, indeed, that as now viewed by 
Presbyterians, it has many serious blemishes and incon- 
veniences, and even pernicious errors, j- the still remain- 
ing dross of the furnace through which it has passed; 
but none of these, it will be found, have escaped the 
searching revision and thorough expurgation of the 
Savoy divines, or need encumber it in the hands of 
those who are not trammelled with inflexible rubrics. 
As combined with a Directory, allowing to the minister 
his liberty to remedy, at discretion, the tedious length 
and multiplicity of its services, and neither requiring 
nor precluding responses, on the part of the congrega- 
tion, nor indeed demanding any other behaviour than is 
already customary in our assemblies, it would, we hon- 
estly believe, be the best liturgy that could be desired, 
or now devised. 

We will even go further, and declare our conviction 
that, as it is the only liturgy fit to be used, so it is the 
only one that can be used with any thing like Presbyte- 
rian consistency. The nature of our system, and the 
nature of the exigency, combine to shut us up to this 
alternative. On the one hand the wise, generous spirit 
of our system will not allow the whole Church to be 
hampered with any thing more liturgical than a Direc- 
tory; and, on the other hand, the exigency to be met 
is such, that it cannot be fully supplied by mere, private 



* We do not except the Presbyterian Liturgies of the continent for 
the reason that they break more entirely with the " Catholic or 
Universal Church" of the past, than was deemed necessary by the 
S&voy Presbyterians; and moreover, being of foreign origin and mod- 
ern translation, are wanting in that solemn scriptural style, peculiar 
to the old English of our Bibles, and so desirable in ord*T to separate 
the language of public worship from that of ordinary literature and 
conversation. * 

f For example, the Baptismal offices and the Ordinal, which, it is 
Well known, are not, in their most natural sense and effect, entirely 
acceptable even to all Episcopalians, and still less to the great mass 
of Christians in other churches. 



PRESBYTERIAN PRAYER-BOOK. 



59 



or voluntary efforts. For any single pastor to compose 
a liturgy, would be as absurd as to compose a hymn- 
book: and for him to compile one. exclusive of the 
Prayer-book, would be as impossible as to compile a 
new creed or psalter. No man or body of men now 
living could frame any better, or any other formulary, 
at all answering to the proper idea cf a liturgy, than 
that which our ecclesiastical forefathers in England 
have first revised, and then bequeathed to us, invested 
with the halo of martyrdom; and by adopting it as the- 
fruit of their orthodoxy, learning and piety, while we 
gain all the advantages of authority, antiquity, catho- 
licity, and perfect fitness, we sacrifice neither our 
liberty, nor our just pride as Presbyterians.* 



* To say that Presbyterians would become Episcopalians by thus 
returning to a liturgy inherited and revised by the framers of 
our own Church standards, is like saying that Episcopalians are 
becoming Presbyterians because they have begun to discover that 
the framers of their Church standards held to Apostolical succession, 
if they held it at all, as presbyUrial rather than episcopal. A series 
of learned and able articles have lately appeared in the Episcopal 
Recorder in which the writer conclusively sh-vvc : 

*1. That in the Ordinal, as it was arranged by Cranmer. Ridley, 
and their coadjutors, there is no difference in the words of ordaining, 
to distinguish the office of Bishop from that of Presbyter. This dis- 
tinction was not male till one hundred years later, by the Bishops 
under Charle- II. 

"2. There is no evidence, in --he form itself, that the Reformers 
regarded the office as a distinct ord«\ derived from Scripture.*' 

And in view of the facts and authorities which he cites, he perti* 
nently asks: 

•• Is it not evident that the Reformers, if they believed in any 
doctrine of ministerial succession, regarded it as belonging to the 
order of presbyters by divine appointment? . . . If the succes- 
sion is not iu the presbyterate by divine right, why did members 
h r ld livings by law in the Church of England, who were ordained 
by presbyters alone, preaching and administering the >aeramems to 
the members of that church for mo~e than a century? "What 
ground, then, is there in the Ordinal (as arranged by the Reforra- 
9*«0 for this b'-asted personal, tactual. *postolie episcopal succession, 
which has led to sacramental error, defection to Popery, spread dis- 
cord in our communion. rereV.ed our fellow-chris?iau«. and pre- 
vented a union of Protestant Cbri-tendom?'* He also expresses the 
"confident hope."' on behalf of the Epi?copa'i*ns generally, that 
|he ; e views will •• commend them to the re-pest snd confidence oi 
intelligent Christians in their re?peetive churches." See -The 
Ti£w of the Church a>-i> Ministry of Christ, as held by the Pro- 
testant Episcopal Church, eo~t;dred in her standards, and explained 
according to the published expositions of the compilers and revisers 



60 



THE WARRANT FOR THE 



Nor could its use in common with that highly respect* 
able denomination, which meanwhile has arisen in our 
own country, and so faithfully preserved and honored 



of the Book of Common Prayer." — Episcopal Recorder, Art. ix., 
March 1863. 

While our neighbors are thus proving themselves to be such good 
Presbyterians, we are tempted to reciprocate, by reminding them 
that the first American Presbytery, by any test that may be applied 
to it, is quite as certainly traceable to "the Apostles' time," through 
the Church of Scotland, as the first American Episcopate, through 
the Church of England ; and although, like the venerable Bishop 
White, we are somewhat indifferent concerning this question of 
an Apostolical pedigree, yet it is because we insist only upon our 
Apostolical doctrine and discipline. Wherever these marks of the 
true succession appear, we are happy to honor and sanction them, 
whether in ministers of the Protestant Episcopal Church, or any 
of its sister denominations. See Alexander's " Essays on the Primi- 
tive Church Offices," p. 177. 

We have said that Bishop White was somewhat indifferent as to 
the Episcopal succession. It does not seem to be generally known 
or remembered, how narrowly that eminent divine and patriot 
escaped becoming a Presbyterian. In a learned essay which he 
published at the time of the Revolution, entitled, " The Case of the 
Episcopal Churches in the United States Considered,'" will be found the 
"sketch of a frame of government," which so substantially accords 
with the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church, one cannot but 
regret that the course of events did not favour its adoption. It 
proposed a series of representative bodies, corresponding respectively 
to the Presbytery, Synod, and General Assembly, (p. 12.) with the 
difference that the Moderator of each Presbytery was to be a perma- 
nent officer, to be invested, however, with no exclusive power of 
ordination or confirmation, and to be burdened with no duty that 
should " materially interfere with his employments in the station 
of a parochial clergyman," (p. 11); and as at that time it was objected 
that " the very name of Bishop is offensive," he was to be entitled 
"a President, a Superintendent, or in plain English, and according 
to the literal translation of the original, an Overseer," (p. 19.) The 
scheme would, indeed, further comprise " a general approbation of 
Episcopacy, and a declaration of an intention to procure the succes- 
sion as soon as conveniently may be." But the author himself 
declares that " the proposal to constitute a frame of government, the 
execution of which shall depend on the pleasure of persons un- 
known, differing from us in language, habits, and perhaps in reli- 
gious principles, has too ludicrous an appearance to deserve consid- 
eration," (p. 17) ; and in view of the existing rnpture with the British 
government, he urges "an immediate execution of the plan, without 
waiting for the Episcopal succession," "on the presumption that the 
worship of God, and the instruction and reformatio n of the people, 
are the principal objects of ecclesiastical discipline, and to relinquish 
them from a scrupulous adherence to episcopacy, is sacrificing the 
substance to the ceremony," (p. 19.) In support of the plan, then 
follows au admirable argument from history and Scripture againg-t 
the divine right of episcopacy, (chap, v.,) with this conclusion- 



PRESBYTERIAN PRAYER-BOOK. 61 



it among us, be other than pleasing to any, in either 
Church, who * ' profess and call themselves Christians," 
or who are ready to rejoice at the many and great 
things in which Christians can agree, as compared 
with the few and small things in which they differ. 

We conclude this part of our subject with two infer- 
ences. The one is, that the liturgical question has 
already been exhausted, so far as discussion could 
exhaust it, by a former age. The time for mere argu- 
ment has gone by. We have here presented, not with- 
out some needful exaggeration, it may be, a side which 
Presbyterians have but seldom viewed. We know very 
well what strong reasonings can be brought from the 
opposite side; but we know also that no reasonings 
that could now be brought from either side would equal 
those of the disputants who were once so terribly in 



44 Now if the form of church government rest on no other foundation 
than ancient and apostolic practice, it is humbly submitted to con- 
sideration, whether Episcopalians will not be thought scarcely- 
deserving the name of Christians, should they, rather than consent 
to a temporary deviation, abandon every ordinance of positive and 
divine appointment," (p. 25.) He further suggests that " should the 
episcopal succession afterwards be obtained, any supposed imperfec- 
tions of the intermediate ordinations might, if it were judged proper, 
be supplied without acknowledging their nullity, by a conditional 
ordination resembling that of conditional baptism in the liturgy," 
(p. 20.); but beyond this very dubious intimation, there is not a 
sentence to show that " the succession supposed necessary to consti- 
tute the Episcopal character," (p. 15,) was considered by him to be 
in any view essential or fundamental. 

Eventually, however, as it is -well known, circumstances altered 
"the case of the Episcopal churches," and developed in them a dif- 
ferent theory of ecclesiastical polity. The first General Convention 
petitioned the English Archbishops that they "would be pleased to 
confer the Episcopal character," and, on certain terms, the petition 
was granted by Act of Parliament; Bishop White himself being one 
of the clergymen who crossed the ocean to receive consecration. If 
this course indicated a radical change of opinions on his part, fhe 
above quotations could only appear perplexing to all parties. Under 
the circumstances, we incline to the hypothesis that, like Bishop 
Reynolds of Norwich, he continued at heart as good a Presbyterian 
after as before his promotion to a diocesan charge ; for certainly no 
one can read his able treatise without feeling what the Bishop him- 
self says of a similar work of Stillingfleet, that " the book seems 
easier retracted than refuted," (p. 25.) 

The copy from which we quote bears the imprint of William Clay- 
poole, Philadelphia, 1782, and contains the autograph of thf 
learned author. 



62 THE HISTORICAL MATERIALS FOR 



earnest, as to add battles to their books, diplomacy td 
their logic, and martyrdom to their orthodoxy 

The other inference is, that the whole question is one 
of the unsolved problems which the Old World has be- 
queathed to the New. Although so thoroughly can* 
vassed there, yet it was at length settled only by the 
strong arm of the law, and in a manner that posterity 
here refuses to accept as final or satisfactory. The 
Directory of the Established Church of Scotland, and 
the Liturgy of the Established Church of England, the 
several fruits of a sectarian warfare, that would permit 
neither to live but by exterminating the other, cannot 
now be viewed, in the light of facts around us, as other 
than rash extremes, from which the free churches of 
this land are already verging towards a substantial 
unity, in the midst of trivial diversity. 

On the 24th of August last, in the city of London, 
but out of the Church of England, was commemorated 
the bi-centenary of that black day in her saints' calen- 
dar, the second St. Bartholomew tragedy, which gave 
her the Prayer-book, without the pledged alterations, 
at a cost of so many martyrs for Presbyterian orthodoxy 
and spirituality. Should the same work as here issued 
on the basis of their revision, and in their name, do 
aught towards that spiritual "Act of Uniformity," 
which neither covenants nor statutes could then com- 
pel, or now retard, their testimony will not have been 
in vain. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

tfHE HISTORICAL MATERIALS FOR THE PRESBYTERIAN 

PRAYER-BOOK. 

We have maintained that the problem of a Presbyterian 
liturgy can only be met and solved by bringing the 
American Presbyterianism of the Nineteenth Century 
Into contact with the English Presbyterianism of the 
i 



THE PRESBYTERIAN PRAYER-BOOK. 63 



Seventeenth Century, through an edition of the Prayer- 
book, as revised by the Savoy divines on the one side, 
and conformed to our Directory of Worship on the other. 
It alone would be a truly Christian liturgy, since it 
would be a formulated expression of the devotions of 
God's people as guided and illumined by the Holy Ghost 
in all ages of the Church; it alone would be a truly 
Protestant liturgy, since it would be freed from Mediae- 
val or Roman errors and superstitions, and retain only 
such ancient formulas as are consistent with Primitive 
Christianity, together with the choicest formulas of the 
Reformation; and it alone would be a truly Presbyterian 
liturgy, since it would rest upon the authority of twenty 
orthodox divines, some of whom were among the 
framers of our Church standards, some of whom could 
have been bishops had they not preferred to remain 
presbyters and Presbyterians, and nearly all of whom 
maintained their Presbyterianism at a sacrifice of every 
worldly interest. We propose now to glance at the his- 
torical materials for such an edition, and the principles 
which should govern us in applying them. 

"In the beginning of the blessed Reformation," said 
the framers of our Directory,* "our wise and pious 
ancestors took care to set forth an order for redress of 
many things which they then, by the Word, discovered 
to be vain, erroneous, superstitious, and idolatrous, in 
the public worship of God. This occasioned many 
godly and learned men to rejoice much at the Book of 
Common Prayer at that time set forth; because the 
mass, and the rest of the Latin service being removed, 
the public worship was celebrated in our own tongue. 
Many of the common people also received benefit by 
hearing the Scriptures read in their own language, 
which formerly were unto them as a book that is sealed. 

"Howbeit long and sad experience hath made it mani- 
fest that the Liturgy used in the Church of England 
(notwithstanding all the pains and religious intentions 
of the compilers of it) hath proved an offence, not only 
to many of the godly at home, but also to the reformed 
Churches abroad. " 



* Preface to the Westminster Directory. 



84 THE HISTORICAL MATERIALS FOR 



The history of the Prayer-book is indeed but the his 
tory of a struggle between evangelism and ritualism, 
spirituality and formality, in the Protestant Church of 
England. The successive revisions of the book were 
the pitched battles between the two parties, and the 
Savoy Conference was a last, decisive encounter, which 
marked the defeat on English soil of those Presbyterian 
principles which have since arisen and flourished with- 
out restraint in the Church of Scotland and in the 
churches of this country. 

At the very dawn of the Reformation, these two ten- 
dencies began to show themselves. The first Prayer- 
book of King Edward VI., in 1549, had scarcely been 
issued before it was eagerly assailed by the more evan- 
gelical reformers, its relics of papal superstition 
expunged, and the whole thoroughly reviewed and 
amended. The result was King Edward's Second Book 
in 1552, by which the Calvinistic side of the Reforma- 
tion got a firm foothold in the Church of England. The 
compilers and first revisers of the liturgy held to 
diocesan episcopacy simply as a convenient ancient 
institution which had been kept up in the Church 
4 'from the Apostles' time," and formed part of the 
existing organization of the State, a bishop being also 
a baron of the realm; and they not only recognised the 
parity of bishops and presbyters,* but invited foreign 
Presbyterian divines to occupy chairs of divinity in 
their universities, and to sit with them in a synod or 
council for the settlement of doctrine. f More than 
this; they actually consulted them, while the church 
service was undergoing reviewal, and drew largely from 
Presbyterian formularies which were then at hand and 
in use in the foreign congregations of Lasko and Pol- 
ianus. The introductory portions of the Daily Prayer 



* Strype's Life of Cranmer, p. 420, Oxford edition ; and similar 
opinions of Bishops Hooper, Jewel, Grindal, Parkhurst, Ponet, &c, 
in their writings collected by the Parker Society. They have been 
admirably collated in a series of articles in the Episcopal Recorder, 
Philadelphia, 1863. 

f See Letters of Cranmer to Calvin, Bullinger, Melanchthon, 
Bucer, Lasco, and Hardenberg. Remains ; Parker Society, pp. 420^— 
434; Strype's Life of Granmer s vol. i. pp. 280, 41Q» 



THE PRESBYTERIAN PRAYER-BOOK. 



G5 



And the Communion were the fruit, and still remain as 
the monuments, of this first revision. 

The fortunes of the book are next to be traced to 
Frankfort on the Continent, whither it had been carried 
by the English Reformers in their flight from the perse- 
cutions of Queen Mary. John Knox was chosen one 
of the ministers to the congregation of exiles : and 
attempts were made, though not without some scanda- 
lous dissensions, at a further reformation of the Church 
ritual. Men who afterwards became eminent bishops in 
the English Church, at this time " gave up private bap- 
tisms, confirmation of children, saints' days, kneeling 
at the Holy Communion, the linen surplices of the min- 
isters, crosses, and other things of the like character," 
retaining, however, "the remainder of the form of 
prayer and of the administration of the sacraments;" 
and "with the consent of the whole Church there was 
forthwith appointed one pastor, two preachers, four 
elders, two deacons; the greatest care being taken that 
every one should be at perfect liberty to vote as he 
pleased." Had these large concessions been properly 
represented to Calvin, to whom both parties appealed, 
it is fair to presume, he would have been more than 
satisfied with so near an approach to Presbyterian ideas 
of polity and worship.* But the controversy became 
embittered with personal and national antipathies ; 
Knox and Whittingham, through the intrigue of their 
adversaries, were driven from Frankfort to Geneva, 
where they set up the Book of Common Order in 
antithesis to the Book of Common Prayer; and thus 
were sown the seeds of the great schism between the 
Church of England and the Church of Scotland. 

Upon the accession of Queen Elizabeth in 1558, the ex- 
iles! were admitted to places of authority and influence 



* Compare a Ji Brieff Diseoura off the troubles begonne at Frank- 
ford in Germany. A. D. 1554, Abowte the Booke off Common 
Prayer and Ceremonies," (reprinted London, 1845,) with the Letters 
addressed to Calvin by Cox. (afterwards Bishop of Ely.) Sandys, 
(Archbishop of York.") Grindal. (Archbishop of Canterbury.) &a 
Original Letters, vol. ii. pp. 753 — 63. Parker Society edition. 

f "Some of whom, during their absence, had been ordained 
according t- the customs of the countries where they had resided 



66 THE HISTORICAL MATERIALS FOR 



in the English Church, and, as might be expected, they 
came back prepared to urge the reforms which they 
had practised while abroad.* Such, at least, was the 
drift of their emendations, when occupied with the revi- 
sion of the Prayer- book; but the compromising policy 
of Elizabeth, who had to deal with Romanists as well as 
Protestants, prevailed against the ecclesiastical com- 
mission,! and the liturgy, as re-established, leaned 
backward from the Second book of King Edward to- 
ward the First. 

The great movement itself, however, still went for- 
ward. "The Genevan faction, or Puritan { party," as 
it is the fashion of certain writers to call them, began 
to issue modified editions of the Prayer-book, or in 
social worship to use Calvin's or Knox's liturgy, and 
even to form presbyteries within the Church establish- 
ment. \ And when King James ascended the throne in 

These were admitted, without re-ordination, to preach and hold 
benefices. One of them (Whittingham) was promoted to a deanery." 
Bishop White's Essay on "The Case of the Episcopal Churches," 
page 22. 

* Strype's Annals, vol. i., p. 127. 

f " Except Archbishop Parker, who had remained in England 
during the late reign, and Cox, Bishop of Ely, who had taken a 
strong part at Frankfort against innovation, all the most eminent 
churchmen, such as Jewell, Grindal, Sandys, Noell, were in favour 
of leaving off the surplice, and what were called the Popish ceremo- 
nies. Whether their objections are to be deemed narrow and frivo- 
lous, or otherwise, it is inconsistent with veracity to dissemble that 
the Queen alone was the cause of retaining those observances to 
which the great separation from the Anglican establishment is 
ascribed." Hallam. Const. Hist, of England, chap. iv. 

% The term Puritan was originally applied to all who sought 
greater -purity in the Church, by freeing it from the remaining 
errors and superstitions of Romanism. The Presbyterian Puritans 
were from the first strict churchmen, agreeing with the Congrega- 
tional Puritans in being Calvinists, but differing from them on 
questions of polity and liturgy. As they appeared " in the manor- 
houses of that old time, they were a stately, polite, religious people ; 
not austere, yet not frivolous; whose theory of life was that the 
chief end of man is not to amuse and be amused, but to glorify God 
and enjoy him for ever." Bayne's Historical Introduction. 

§ For a full account of the rise and spread of Presbyterianism in 
the Church of England, and its early and continued assertion of 
itself against Congregationalism on the one side, and Ritualism on 
the other, see the learned work of Professor Samuel Hopkins, "The 
Puritans and Queen Elizabeth," vol. i. chap x., vol. ii. chaps, xv. 
xvi. Also Hetherington's History of the Westminster Divines, 
p. 43; Hodge's History of Pres. Church, chap.i 



THE PRESBYTERIAN PRAYER-BOOK. 67 



1603, they had grown strong enough to present the 
famous "Millenary Petition," (so called because of its 
thousand signature?.) in which they renewed the objec- 
tions first raised at Frankfort, praying "that the cross 
in baptism, interrogatories ministered to infants, con- 
firmations, as superfluous, maybe taken away; baptism 
not to be administered by women, and so explained; 
that examination may go before the communion; that 
it be ministered with a sermon ; that divers terms 
of priests and absolution, and some other used, with 
the ring in marriage, and other such like in the book 
may be corrected: the longsomeness of service abridged; 
church songs and music moderated to better edification; 
that the Lord's day be not profaned: the rest upon 
holidays not so strictly urged: that there may be an 
uniformity of doctrine prescribed; no Popish opinion 
to be any more taught or defended; no ministers 
charged to teach their people to bow at the name of 
Jesus: and that the Canonical Scriptures only be read 
in church." And in view of this petition, it was deemed 
debatable by Archbishop Whitgift "whether to over- 
throw the said book, or to make alteration of things 
disliked in it." About this time also Lord Bacon pub- 
lished a pamphlet, in which, says Hallam, "he excepts 
to several matters of ceremony; the cap and surplice, 
the ring in marriage, the use of organs, the form of 
absolution, lay-baptism, &c." The result was that a 
Conference between the parties was appointed by King 
James at Hampton Court, and, after some discussion, 
several emendations made, which, if trivial, at least 
showed the steady growth of evangelical opinions. 

While, however, Presbyterian divines were thus 
striving after a more primitive and Protestant worship, 
the opposite party were as steadily aiming at a semi- 
popish ritual, until at length, under the reign of 
Charles L, in 1637, the long pent storm burst forth. 
Archbishop Laud, with that passion for mediaeval art 
which has since ensnared so many tasteful but narrow 
minds, began his ecclesiological experiments upon the 
Scots. Then followed the events described in our first 
chapters — the wild uprising of the Covenanters — their 
solemn League with the Puritans — the vain attempt by 



68 THE HISTORICAL MATERIALS FOR 



a new and more radical revision of the Prayer-book to 
stay the revolution — the defeat of Prelacy by the Par- 
liamentary forces — the Assembly of Divines at West- 
minster — the Establishment of the Directory in place of 
the Liturgy — the rapid increase of the Independents — 
the overthrow of both Church and State in the time of 
the Commonwealth — the protest of the Presbyterian 
Clergy of London against the death of Charles the First 
and the crowning of Charles the Second, by the Scottish 
Presbyterians — the ultimate restoration of the Mon- 
archy through their combined efforts and those of the 
Episcopalian Royalists — the re-action of Presbyterian- 
ism in favor of a revised Liturgy — its failure to effect a 
Reformation of the Prayer-book through the Savoy 
Conference* — and its final extinction by the Act of 
Uniformity. 

Thus it appears that from the very origin of the 
Prayer-book, the spirit of English Presbyterianism had 
been steadily gaining ground with each successive 
revision, until at length it found itself between two 
extreme factions, one of which could see nothing good 
in the book, and the other nothing evil in it ; and in the 
vain effort by turns to master and conciliate these hos- 
tile elements within the pale of an Established Church, 
it finally perished. But it died, only as the martyr dies, 
for the good of posterity. At the cost of its own life it 
restored monarchy to England, and gave democracy to 
America, and to the church universal bequeathed an 
amended Prayer-book, which, if it is still, as hitherto, to 
live only in history, must ever remain as the model of a 
pure, free, and catholic liturgy. 

Now when we come to sift the literary materials which 
have accumulated during this exciting history, it will be 
found that, for our present purpose, we need make no 
account of any documents or writings before the last 



* "The minds of the ruling Episcopalians, irritated by recent suf- 
ferings, were less intent on conciliation than on retaliation. Bishop 
Burnet assigns a reason still less excusable: that many great pre- 
ferments were in the hands of obnoxious persons, who on account of 
their services towards the restoration, could not otherwise be ejected, 
than by making the terms of conformity difficult." Bishop White's 
Essay, p. 23 



THE PRESBYTERIAN PRAYER-BOOK. 69 



revision in 1661 ; partly because it was not until that time 
that English Presbyterianism had fully unfolded and 
defined itself against Independency as well as Prelacy, 
and also because it then in fact gave a resumS (more 
thorough than any that could now be made 5 ) of the pre- 
vious Puritan revisions, together with its own matured 
exceptions and emendations. The records of the Savoy 
Conference alone, will yield us that expurgated Prayer- 
book which, in contrast with the Episcopalian editions 
now in use, shall express the sense of our standards on 
the authority, and to a great extent, in the very words of 
the learned divines who first framed and used them. 

And happily, these invaluable records are not only 
full and explicit, but at length easily accessible.* It 
would be interesting to take them up in detail, and dis- 
cuss them in their bearings upon the condition and pros- 
pects of modern Presbyterianism. But the question 
before us requires us only to select and present that one 
important document into which is collected the sense of 
all the others, and which must ever remain as the basis 
of anything deserving to be called a Presbyterian 
Liturgy. 

A glance at the historyf will show that the paper 



* The Editor had been endeavoring to gather these papers from the 
obscure works in which they have hitherto been scattered, when 
his attention was called to a fall collection of them, entitled "Docu- 
ments relating to the Settlement of the Cliurch of England, by the Act 
of Uniformity of 1662," a list of which will be found in our Appen- 
dix. The volume is issued by the "United Saint Bartholomew 
Committee," an organization formed in connection with the recent 
Bicentenary Celebration of Nonconformity in London; and a 
Second Edition has a Historical Introduction by the distinguished 
Essayist, Peter Bayne, Esq., Editor of the Weekly Review, an Organ of 
the English Synod. The series of Documents, thus for the first time 
issued in a connected form, <; exhibits the relations of the King, the 
Parliament, the Bishops, and the Presbyterian Divines to each other 
in the discussions which preceded and resulted in the Act of Uni- 
formity;" and the Committee declare it was their ' : unanimous reso- 
lution that, in collecting them and presenting them to public notice, 
the most rigid impartiality should be observed." Their republication 
in our own country would shed much light into this greatly neglec- 
ted department of our Church History. 

f The fullest account may be found in Reliquiae Baxteriance, or 
Baxter's History of his own Life and Times, at first edited by Syl- 
vester, and afterwards abridged by Calamy, (Chapter viii. London ed., 
1713,) and by Orme, (vol. i. pp. 181— 193 3 Boston ed., 1831.) Othel 



70 THE HISTORICAL MATERIALS FOR 



entitled " The Exceptions against the Booh of Common 
Prayer" compiled by Reynolds, Wallis, Calaniy, New- 
comen, Bates, Clarke, Jacomb, &c., and presented at 
the opening of the Conference, is the only document 
which fully and authoritatively represents the views of 
the Presbyterian Commissioners. Other writings were 
indeed offered in their name, but not, as it would seem, 
with their full knowledge and sanction; this one being 
in fact the report of a committee to which had been 
assigned the duty of preparing the proposed "correc- 
tions and amendments," while the other papers, "The 
Petition for Peace and Concord presented to the Bishops 
with the proposed Reformation of the Liturgy," "The 
Rejoinder of the Ministers to the Answer of the Bish- 
ops," and "The Petition to the King at the close of the 
Conference," were of Baxter's composition alone, and 
brought forward at a stage of the proceedings when it 
had become plain that the Conference was a failure, 
and after several of the Presbyterians, among them 
Tuckney, had already left, in despair of any reconcilia- 
tion. We make this discrimination merely to simplify 
our task; for the writings in question are not only deeply 
interesting as memorials of the time, but also exceed- 
ingly valuable for confirming and interpreting that chief 
document of the revision. 

As to the production known as Baxter's "Reformed 
Liturgy," it should be observed, that it does not appear 
among the records,* and according to his statement, 
was not even read by the opposite party. It was in 
fact precluded by the terms of the King's Warrant, 
which extended only to "corrections, alterations, and 
amendments ;" having been ingeniously so framed as 
to exclude the "additional forms" promised in the 
King's Declaration. Under this misapprehension, the 
task of preparing such supplementary forms would seem 
indeed to have been assigned to Baxter; but not, as 
has been absurdly charged, with the view of substitut- 



pketches are given by Collier, Burnet, Neal, and various later writers, 
but they are mainly derived from Baxter's Narrative. 

* It may be found in Calamy's Life of Baxter, vol. i., London ed., 
1713. Also in Hall's Reliquiae Liturgicae. 



THE PRESBYTERIAN PRAYER-BOOK. 71 



ing them as a new liturgy in place of the Prayer-book. 
The real object aimed at was to secure freedom of wor- 
ship, by the "addition or insertion of some other vary- 
ing forms in Scripture phrase, to be used at the minis- 
ter's choice,"* as well as to enrich the book with more 
Protestant models of devotion than the meagre versicles 
and collects of which it was then chiefly composed. 
Time may have shown that this scheme was impractica- 
ble, and set a lower estimate than his own upon Bax- 
ter's liturgical efforts ; but the defect at which they were 
aimed was one which the Episcopalian Commissioners 
themselves afterward endeavored to supply, and which 
to this day is felt as a serious want by all who are 
accustomed to the freshness and variety of a less rigid 
mode of worship. It is a defect, however, which is 
only to be remedied by the grace of extemporaneous 
prayer; and the fate of Baxter's effusion should be a 
warning to every ambitious liturgy-maker not to think 
of legislating for that class of devotions which cannot, 
in the nature of the case, be formulated, but must be 
left to the pastor or bishop of each flock, as the mood or 
occasion will prompt him. Of all such rash attempts 
we may say what Milton said of the imposed Prayer- 
book: "To imprison and confine by force, within a pin- 
fold of set words, those two most unimprisonable things, 
our prayers and that divine spirit of utterance that 
moves them, is a tyranny that would have longer hands 
than those giants who threatened bondage to heaven. "f 
Our present concern, therefore, is only with those 
ancient and catholic models which alone can properly 
enter into a free liturgy, and upon which alone the col- 
lective wisdom of the Presbyterian Commissioners was 
exercised. And no one can read their paper of correc- 
tions without being struck at once with its cautious and 
conservative tenor, and its entire harmony with the 
genius of Presbyterian worship. It yielded no small 
share of the emendations which distinguish the present 
Prayer-bookJ of the Church of England, and largely 



* Documents, p. 17. 

f Eikouoklastes, Chapter xvi., upon the Ordinance against th« 
Common Prayer-book. 

X Preface to the English Prayer-book. 



72 THE HISTORICAL MATERIALS FOR 



accords with the exceptions which this day are taken 
by the Liberal and Evangelical party. We may add, 
that whatever comparative excellences are to be found 
in the edition of the Protestant Episcopal Church in 
this country,* if not remotely derived from its sugges- 
tions, are at least in agreement with them. And yet 
it is, at the same time, so distinctive and unequivocal, in 
those parts which have hitherto been disregarded, that 
any sound Presbyterian of the present day will imme- 
diately recognise in it the work of the large-hearted 
men to whom we look as the founders and framers of 
our Church. 

While, however, all this is true of the paper in gene- 
ral, yet it will be found that, in the actual work of 
applying it as in this edition, two abatements must be 
made in regard to such of its details as are confessedly 
of minor importance, and involve no question of doc- 
trine or principle. 

In the first place, it will be seen that the authors of 
the document themselves carefully discriminate between 
"some particulars that seem to be corrupt, and to carry 
in them a repugnancy to the rule of the Gospel," and 
"others dubious and disputable as not having a clear 
foundation in Scripture for their warrant," or, still 
others "of inferior consideration, verbal rather than 
material, which, were they not in the public liturgy of 
so famous a church, we should not have mentioned." 
And that they would not have been tenacious of such 
points, had they been met by the other party with a 
spirit of amicable conference, is not only plain from the 
paper itself, (which was never designed as an ultimatum, 
being composed mainly of proposals and matters for 
treaty and consultation,) but was afterwards shown b} r 
their own concessions, when some of them, in the year 
1698, under the reign of King William, united with Til- 
lotson, Stillingfleet, Tennison, and other eminent Bish- 
ops, in a second attempt to revise the Liturgy with a 
view to their comprehension in the Church Establish- 
ment.! And though the effort again proved a failure, 



* Preface, fourth paragraph, and p. 75 helow, 

f The MS. of the Alterations in the Book of Common Prayer prepared 
by the Royal Commissioners for the Revision of the Liturgy in 1689| 



THE PRESBYTERIAN PRAYER-BOOK. 73 



yet it has yielded us additional and most valuable helps, 
which we have not failed to use, in the interpretation 
and application of the document before us. 

In the second place, it should be remembered that 
since this document was prepared, a great change has 
been steadily working in regard to many matters of mere 
usage and taste, involving no essential principle of Pres- 
byterianism. The whole liturgical question, indeed, 
has meanwhile become reversed. Then it was the lib- 
erty to use the gift of prayer which was first to be 
asserted; now it is the liberty to use forms of prayer 
which is still to be preserved. It is obvious that many 
things which then were simply intolerable as parts of 
an enforced liturgy, may now be safely left indifferent 
under a directory, and that in thus consigning them to 
the spontaneous action of Christian feeling we are not 
abandoning, but only following out the principles of our . 
forefathers, who craved no other freedom for themselves 
than they were willing to concede to their brethren.* 
Nor should it surprise us to find, after the lapse of two 
centuries, and in the altered circumstances in which we 
are now placed, that some of their minor criticisms 
seem trivial or inapplicable. This may only show what 
they themselves maintained, how impossible it is to make 
rules and forms for all cases, and also how invariable is 
that law of the human mind, by which it reacts from any 
extreme into which it has been driven. 



after lying hidden under seal in Lambeth Library for more than a 
century and a half, became at length accessible, by order of Parlia- 
ment, in the Blue Book of June 2d, 1854. An " Account of the pro- 
ceedings of the Commissioners," and an Abstract of their proposed 
Emendations is given by Calamy in his Life of Baxter. Chapter xvii. 
Vol. i. A summary is also given in Procter's History of Prayer-book, 
p. 146, and the Revised Collects by Baird in the Book of Public 
Prayer. The Alterations have been largely used by Rev. Richard 
Bingham, in a late work entitled " Liturgice Eecusce Exemplar: the 
Prayer-book as it might be : or Formularies old, revised, and new, 
suggesting a reconstructed and amplified Liturgy," London, 1863. 

* "We would avoid both the extreme that would have no forms, 
and the contrary extreme that would have nothing but forms. . . . 
It is a matter of far greater trouble to us, that you would deny us 
and all ministers the liberty of using any other prayers besides (the 
forms in) the liturgy than that you impose these." Rejoinder of the 
Presbyterians; Documents p. 247. 



74 THE HISTORICAL MATERIALS FOB 



And yet, it would be a great mistake to suppose, 
because this paper was, in some trifling respects, origin- 
ally defective, and in others has become obsolete, that 
therefore the editor has been thrown entirely upon hia 
own taste and judgment, in applying it, or even in supply- 
ing its little deficiencies. We fortunately possess certain 
collateral sources of information, quite as authoritative 
and explicit, by means of which the two principal docu- 
ments to be used may be fully confirmed and comple- 
mented even to the smallest particulars. What is want- 
ing in the Savoy records, or in our Directory, is more than 
made up to us by other authorities cotemporary with 
the former, and cognate to the latter, so that not only 
upon all the great substantial of doctrine and order, 
but also upon the veriest minutiae of usage, convenience, 
and taste, we can converge the light of history from 
every quarter. 

If now we bring together and arrange the materials 
chiefly used in discriminating and preparing this edition, 
they may thus be exhibited at one view: 

THE PRAYER-BOOK OF CHARLES I. 

Presbyterian Exceptions q/1661. The Assembly' 's Directory. 

Presbyterian Rejoinder of 1661. The Assembly's Digest. 

Semi-Presbyterian Revision of 1689. The Calvinistic Liturgies. 

THE PRESBYTERIAN PRAYER-BOOK. 

It will be seen that the editor's task has been simply 
to take that edition which was in the hands of the Savoy 
Commissioners, and, in the first instance, apply to it 
the two documents which respectively represent the 
English and the American view of its contents; and his 
duty and aim have been to reject everything inconsis- 
tent with both, and retain all of either that remains. 
The text, therefore, or body of the service, has only 
been a'tered so far as the "Exceptions" require; but 
the Rubric has been everywhere superseded by the 
Directory, especially in the sacramental offices, in which 
it has been inserted literally. Thus the doctrinal frame- 
work has been taken from our standards, while the form 
and fashion of the whole have been rendered expressive 
of their import. 



THE PRESBYTERIAN PRAYER-BOOK. 75 



Then, as to the numerous details not reached by 
the^e two chief documents, we have used the auxiliary 
writings severally connected with them. For confirm- 
ing and supplementing the Exceptions, we have com- 
pared Baxter's Rejoinder, which exhibits the Presbyte- 
rians at their farthest extreme from the Episcopalians,* 
and the Revision of 1689, which exhibits the Episco- 
palians in their nearest approach to the Presbyte- 
rians, f For confirming and supplementing the Direc- 
tory, we have compared the Assembly's Acts and 
Deliverances, which present the most modern and 
American phase of Presbyterianism, and the Calvinistic 
or Reformed Liturgies, which present its most ancient 
and catholic aspect. And then the several products of 
these comparisons have been blended in the work of 
emendation, so far as consistent with each other and 
with the work as a whole. The result is, unless we 
greatly over-estimate our labors, a Prayer-book so 
amended as to contain nothing, however trivial, for 
which good Presbyterian authority and usage cannot be 
cited. 

Having thus collected,' sifted, and applied our mate- 
rials, it only remains to analyze the product before us 
by tracing the several offices to their historical sources, 
and showing their fitness either as materials or models 
of divine worship. This we propose to do in our next 
chapter, leaving the reader, as we proceed, to compare 
the text with our commentary upon it. 



* "All which considered, we altogether despair of that happy suc- 
cess which thousands hope and wait for from this his Majesty's 
commission; unless God shall incline your hearts for the peace and 
union of the nation, to a more considerable and satisfactory altera- 
tion of the liturgy." Galamy in the Presbyterian Kejoinder; Docu- 
ments, p. 204. 

f "Thus much I shall venture to say, that such Amendments as 
those were, with such an allowance in the point of Orders for Ordi- 
nation by Presbyters, as is made 13 Bliz., cap. 12. would, in all proba- 
bility, have brought in two-thirds of the Dissenters in England," 
CaJamy, in his Life of Baxter, vol. i. p. 448. 

We have also made use of the " Proposals for a Comprehension of 
the Presbyterians," made by Stillingfieet and Tillotsonin conference 
with Manton Bates and Baiter in 1668. Ibid. p. 317. 



76 ANALYSIS OF THE PRAYER-BOOK. 



CHAPTEB IX. 

HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL ANALYSIS OP THE AMENDED 
PRESBYTERIAN PRAYER-BOOK. 

As the object we have in view does not take us over 
the ancient ground common to all Liturgies and Prayer- 
books, and already pre-occupied by so many learned 
treatises,* we shall confine ourselves mainly to such in- 
vestigations as may serve to distinguish this edition from 
others; and our method will be to penetrate first to 
the original sources from which the book was compiled, 
and then, by a more specific criticism of its contents, to 
trace the changes through which it has passed to its 
present amended form, together with the reasons active 
in producing them. 

Sect. I. The Catholic Originals. 

In the early progress of the Reformation, royal 
injunctions were given that certain portions of the 
Latin service, then used in the churches, such as the 
Lord's Prayer, the Creed, and the Epistle and Gospel 
for the day, should be recited from the pulpit in the 
mother tongue; that the English Litany should be said 
plainly by the priest and choir in the midst of the 
church; and that after matins should be read a Lesson 
from the New Testament, and after evensong a Lesson 
from the Old Testament, f At the same time an "Order 
of Communion" was issued, restoring the cup to the 
laity, and virtually abolishing the Roman Mass; J and 



* Palmer: Origines Liturgicce. Bingham: Origines Ecclesiasticce. 
Maskel: Monumenta Ritualia JEcclesice Anglicance. Freeman: Prin- 
ciples of Divine Service. , 

f Injunctions given by the most Excellent Prince, Edward the 
Sixth, &c. Appendix to Archbishop Cranmer's Remains, p. 498. 
Parker Society ed. 

% Liturgies of King Edward the Sixth, pp. 1—8, Parker Society 
edition. 



THE PROTESTANT ORIGINALS. 



77 



at length these several elements of a Protestant liturgy 
became embodied in a "Book of Common Prayer," 
designed to supersede the old monastic ritual, and 
engage the whole people intelligently in every part of 
divine service.* 

The nucleus of the Prayer-book was thus immediately 
derived from the Breviary and Missal, as translated by 
the English Reformers, and adapted to the uses of con- 
gregational worship: but remotely it was of much more 
primitive and less questionable origin; and, as here 
presented, after all the revisions it has undergone, with 
its numerous Protestant accretions, erasions, and emen- 
dations, it will be found to retain scarcely a trace of the 
Roman and Anglican channels through which it has 
passed from its ancient sources, and to be indeed, so far 
as it is not distinctively Presbyterian, simply catholic 
or common to all churches of Christ. 

Leaving this fact to appear as we proceed, we pass to 
those more modern originals concerning which there is 
greater diversity of opinion. 

Sect. II. The Protestant Originals. 

Besides the ancient service-books there were also in 
the hands of the compilers of the Prayer-book three 
new formularies, portions of which were incorporated 
in the first and second editions. These were, L Her- 
mann's Consultation or scheme of doctrine and wor- 
ship for the Electorate of Cologne. 2. Pollantts's 
Liturgy of the Church of French Refugees in England. 
3. Lasco's Ecclesiastical Service of the Church of 
German Foreigners in London. It is important to 
discriminate the sources from which these formularies 
had been compiled, and the changes they underwent 
both before and after they were embodied in the Eng- 
lish liturgy. 

As to the origin of the two last named productions 
there can be no question. It is conceded by all parties, 
that they were translated from a form which had been 
composed and used by Calvin in the church at Stras- 



* Preface to the Book of Common Prayer, 1549, Strype, vol. ij 
p. 133. 



78 ANALYSIS OF THE PRAYER-BOOK. 



burg, and which became the germ and model of all the 
Reformed liturgies.* This is clear not only from their 
structure and contents, but also from the events con- 
nected with their origin and history. 

Valerandus Pollanus was Calvin's successor at Stras- 
burg, and on the publication of the Interim, an imperial 
edict adverse to the Reformers, fled with his congrega- 
tion to England, where the Lord Protector gave them 
an asylum in Somersetshire, and allowed them the free 
use of their ritual in Glastonbury Cathedral. The dis- 
putes in the English church which led to the further 
reformation and amendment of the Prayer-book, turned 
the attention of both parties to these foreign Protest- 
ants, and Pollanus in 1550-51, published in Latin, Cal- 
vin's Strasburg liturgy as used by them, together with 
a Dedication to King Edward the Sixth, and an Apol- 
ogy, vindicating them from the aspersions of the 
Romanists, f 



* This must not be confounded with. Calvin's Genevan Liturgy, 
which differed from the Strasburg in some of the respects in which 
the latter agreed, with the Prayer-book. Eutaxia, p. 20, 206. 

The following authorities, representing all varieties of theologi- 
cal prepossession, may be consulted in regard to the Calvinistic origi- 
nals of the Prayer-book: 

{Anglican.) History of the Prayer-book, by Archdeacon Berens, 
published by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, pages 
89, 41, 43, 87, 88, 141, J 55— 8; Archbishop Laurence's Bampton Lec- 
tures, pages 207, 208 ; Freeman's " Principles of Divine Service," vol. 
i., p. 313; Procter's History of the Prayer-book, pages 31, 32, 45—49, 
841, 346, note; "Private Prayers in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth;" 
Parker Society, p. 488, note; Strype's Eccl. Mem. vol. ii., chapter 
xxix. ; Burnet's History of the Reformation, p. 415; Strype's Life of 
Cranmer, p. 200, and Appendix ; Heylin's History of the Reforma- 
tion, published by the Eccl. Hist. Society, vol. i. pages 193, 226, 270; 
Hardwicke's History of the Christian Church during the Reforma- 
tion, Cambridge edition, pages 222, 223. 

(German.) Daniel's Codex Liturgicus; Eccl. Ref. et Angl., vol. i; 
Ebrard's Reformirtes Kirchenbuch, p. 323; Hertzog's Encyclopedia. 
Articles : England, Anglican Church, Cranmer, and Calvin. 

(American.) Bishop Brownel's Commentary on the Prayer book, 
Introduction^ 21. Eutaxia or the Presbyterian Liturgies, chapters 
X — xii. Mr. Baird's careful researches into the Calvinistic Liturgies 
place his work in the first rank of authorities. 

f Liturgia Sxcra, Seu Ritas Ministerii in Ecclesia Peregrinorum 
Profugorum propter Evangelium Christi Argentina^, 1551. Cum 
Apologia pro hac Liturgia. Par Valerandum Pollanum Flandrum, 
The date is incorrectly given by Proctor. Compare with Suype. 
vol. ii. 379. It may be found in Daniel's Codex Liturgicus, vol. i. 



THE PROTESTANT ORIGINALS, 79 



About the same time a distinguished Pole, John A. 
Lasco, also a Calvinist, or Zwinglian, took shelter in 
England upon the invitation of Cranmer, and was 
appointed superintendent of the foreign congregation of 
refugees in London. The liturgy used in their worship, 
was prepared by him on the basis of that translated by 
Pollanus, and was published both in Dutch and in 
Latin.* Lasco, moreover, was intimately associated 
with Cranmer, as his guest and adviser, while the 
liturgy was undergoing revision, and took an active part 
in the whole work of the English Reformation. 

It is thus evident from the history, that the Calvinistic 
liturgy was not only in actual use in several congrega- 
tions to which the framers of the Prayer-book would 
naturally refer for an example of Protestant worship 
but that it was also in their hands in several languages. 
And this historical testimony, as we shall see hereafter, 
is amply sustained by the internal evidence of the book 
itself. 

In regard to the other work mentioned, that of Bucer 
and Melancthon, there is more room for doubt, f It 



* Forma ac Ratio tola ecclesiastici ministerii in peregrinorum, potis- 
simum vero Germanorum Ecclesia instituta Londini in Anglia per 
Edvardum Sextum. Auctore Joh. A. Lasco, Polonise Barne. Both 
Lasco's and Pollanus' Liturgies are sketched by Dr. Krauth in his 
" Sunday Service according to the Liturgies of the Churches of the 
Reformation." 

f This work was not so much a liturgy as a provisional scheme of 
doctrine and worship, -which Melancthon and Bucer were invited to 
prepare by Hermann, " that pious Confessor the late Elector and Arch- 
bishop of Cologne, who, for adhering to the Protestant religion, and 
setting on foot the Reformation of his country, was deprived by the 
Pope and Emperor." It was first published in German in 1543, and 
in 1545 in Latin atDonn, with the title, "Nostra Hermanni Archepisc. 
Coloniensis Simplex et Pia Deliberatio et Christiana in Verbo Dei fun- 
data Reformatio:'' An English translation of this Latin work was 
printed in 1547, and a second revised edition in 1548, entitled, ( * A 
simple and religious consultation of us Hermann, by the grace of 
God, Archbishop of Cologne, and Prince Elector, &c, by what means 
a Christian Reformation, and founded in God's word, of doctrine, 
administration of the divine Sacraments, of ceremonies, and the 
whole cure of souls, and other ecclesiastical ministries, may be 
begun among men committed to our pastoral charge, until the 
Lord grant a better to be appointed either by a free and Christian 
council, general or national, or else by the States of the Empire of 
Germany, gathered together in the Holy Ghost. M Procter's History 



80 ANALYSIS OF THE PRAYER-BOOK. 



would, in fact, be simply absurd for any party now to 
lay an exclusive claim to the authorship or purport of 
a production which was compiled by divines noted for 
liberal views and union tendencies, and with the express 
design of reconciling the two extremes of the Reforma- 
tion. After investigating the history in all directions, 
and viewing the question on all sides, we have reached 
the conclusion that, as this liturgy started at some 
middle-point between Lutheranism and Zwinglianism, it 
therefore entered the Prayer-book with a bias toward 
Calvinism, and that this bias was confirmed at the first 
revision, increased at each succeeding revision, and 
finally completed by the Presbyterian Commissioners at 
the last revision. Our reasons for this view are the 
following: 

1. It was never used or sanctioned in any Lutheran 
community, but on the contrary, was opposed and sup- 
pressed by Luther himself on its first appearance.* 

2. Not only was it compiled from Reformed as well as 
Lutheran sources,f but both of its compilers were warm 
personal friends of Calvin, and favorable to a union 



of the Prayer-book, p. 40. The Cologne Liturgy is noticed in Strype's 
Ecc. Mem , and the German edition of it may be found in Richter's 
Kirchenordnungen, vol. i. 

* " The Reformation Book, which was mainly Sneer's work, and in 
which, so far as the liturgy is concerned, the established ritual was 
followed as closely as possible, the Constitution of the Church 
retained, and the doctrine of the Strasburg and Hessian Confessions 
adopted — was sent by Hermann himself to the Elector of Saxony, 
who submitted it for examination to the Lutheran zealot Ormsdorf. 
Luther was incensed by it, especially in regard to the Lord's Supper, 
and first assailed Bucer, and became so much excited against Me- 
lancthon, that the latter thought seriously of leaving Wittemberg, 
expecting that Luther would come out publicly against him." Life 
of Bucer, by J W. Baura, Prof in Strasburg, p 535. 

f From the formularies of Nuremburg (Lutheran,); Saxony 
(Lutheran,); Strasburg (Reformed,) and Hesse (Reformed.) See Rich- 
ter's Evangelischen Kirchenordnungen, vol. i. 

It appears from a letter of Melancthon that the doctrinal portion 
was prepared by himself, while the ritual portion, (which is the part 
that appears in the Prayer-book.) was prepared by Bucer. " Retinuit 
pleraque Osiandri Bucerus ; quosdam articulos auxit, ut est copiosus. 
Mihi, cum omnia relegissem, attribuit articulos, detrinitate, de crea- 
tione, de peccato originis, de justitia fidei et operum, de ecclesia, de 
poenitentia. Id his consumpsi tempus hactenus, et legi de CEeremo- 
niis Baptism, et Casngs Domini qns& ipse composuit." Epist. 2707- 
Opp. v. 112. 



THE PROTESTANT ORIGINALS. 81 



with the Calvinistic churches.* This feeling, indeed, 
in Bucer amounted to a ruling passion, drew upon 
him the suspicion and persecution of his countrymen, 
and at length forced him into exile and poverty. Cal- 
vin was the first to offer him an asylum at Geneva, 
but afterwards advised him to accept Cranmer's Invita- 
tion to a professorship in Oxford, and addressed him a 
letter full of the highest consolations of Christian 
philosophy.f 

3. Whatever may be said of Bucer's seeming incon- 
sistency and vacillation in Germany, or of the syncretis- 
tic nature of the liturgy he there compiled, yet it is 
undeniable that while he was in England, assisting in 
the revision of the Prayer-book, he represented the 
views of Calvin, who had written him urging that "all 
ceremonies may be abolished which in any way savour 
of superstition, "J and who often mourned his untimely 
death as the greatest calamity to the English Reforma- 
tion. "When I consider what a loss the Church of God 
has suffered by the death of this one man, I cannot but 
every now and then renew my grief. He would have 
done great service in England; and I hoped for some- 
thing greater from his writings hereafter than what he 
has hitherto published. And that these hopes|| had 
been well founded is shown by the strictures or censura 
of the Prayer-book,^" which Bucer prepared at the 



* See Calvin's Tracts, vol. ii. pp. 211, 281, 354—356, 496; Calvin's 
Letters, vol. i. p. 137; Zurich Letters, First Series, pp. 161, 234; 
Second Series, p. 73 ; Original Letters of Ref. pp. 488, 535, 541—548, 
585, 688. Published by Parker Society. Strype's Ecc. Mem., vol. ii, 
pp. 190, 326. Hertzog's Encyclodedia, Art. Bucer, and Calvin. 

I Calvin's Letters, trans, by Jules Bonnet, vol. ii. p. 212. 
. Ibid. p. 232. § Ibid. p. 312. 

I Milton calls Bucer " that elect instrument of reformation higbly 
honored, and had in reverence by Edward the Sixth and his whole 
Parliament" . . . " whose incomparable youth doubtless had brought 
forth to the Church of England such a glorious manhood, had his 
life reached it, as would have left in the affairs of religion nothing 
without an excellent pattern for us now to follow." Prose Works, 
Bohn's edition, pp. 317, 278. See also Milton's collection of "Testi- 
monies of the high approbation which learned men have given of 
Martin Bucer," pp. 274 — 277. 

% Censura Martini Buceri super libro Sacrorum, seu ordinationis 
ecclesice atque ministcrii ecdesiastici in Regno Anglice, ad petitionem 
B. Archie piscwpi Cantuariensis, Thoma Cranmeri conscripta. A 
summary of the Censura is given by Procter, pages 40 — 43* 



82 ANALYSIS OP THE PRAYER-BOOK. 



request of Cranmer, and which are in fact almost iden- 
tical with those afterwards urged by the Calvinistic 
party in the Church of England. 

4. Had the Bucerian and Melancthonian portions of 
the Prayer-book been thus amended according to Bucer'a 
own matured views and suggestions, they would have 
been rendered almost entirely Calvinistic, and the Eng- 
lish Church, in ritual as well as doctrine, would have 
been freed from its Romanist and Lutheran remnants.* 
But it was reserved for the Puritans, during the hun- 
dred years which followed, to continue the work of 
criticism begun by the Calvinistic reformers, and at 
length for the Presbyterian Puritans, in distinction 
from the Episcopalian Puritans on the one side, and the 
Independent Puritans on the other, to complete that 
work by their strictures offered in the Savoy Conference. 
"The Exceptions against the Book of Common Prayer" 
are at once a resume and enlargement of the "Censura 
Buper Libro Sacrorum;" and the two documents, taken 
together, mark the germ and the flower of a Prayer- 
book that deserves in every sense to be called Presby- 
terian. 

If now we survey the originals of the English Liturgy, 
at one view, from their origin throughout their history, 
We shall be ready for the general conclusion; that, 
.while King Edward's First Prayer-book exhibited the 
Protestant as distinguished from the Romanist phase 
of Christianity, and while King Edward's Second 
Prayer-book exhibited the Calvinistic as distinguished 
from the Lutheran phase of Protestantism, the Prayer- 
book here presented will exhibit the Presbyterian as 
distinguished from the Episcopalian phase of Calvinism. 
And the proofs of this will accumulate at every step of 
that more particular analysis to which we proceed. 

Sect. III. The Revised Rubrics. 

The Rubrics (so called from the red letters in which 
they were printed in old copies) are the rules for the 



* "The death of Edward seems to have prevented a further ap- 
proach to the scheme of (^pneva in our ceremonies, and perhaps ia 
our Church government." Hallain's Const. Hist., chap.iv. 



THE REVISED RUBRICS. 



83 



government of Minister and People in Divine Service, 
and correspond to our Directory. In the ancient Ser- 
vice-books, as well as in the Lutheran and Reformed 
Agenda, they are much less imperative and obligatory 
than in the English Prayer-book, which breathes through- 
out a tone of punctilious command, better suited to a state 
ritual than a church service. This has been obviated by 
substituting in place of the word "shall" the word "will" 
to indicate what is agreed and customary, or the word 
"way" to indicate what is discretionary and variable: 
a change which simply gains liberty without sacrificing 
order, since custom soon acquires the force of authority, 
and authority is of no avail where it loses its hold upon 
custom, as is shown by the continual conflict of usage 
with Rubrics and Directories. 

The Introductory rubrics concerning ecclesiastical 
vestments and furniture, are ommitted as relating to mat- 
ter^ which by the Directory are wisely and safely left 
indifferent. The altar,* and surplice, f were associated 
in the minds of many Episcopalians, as well as Presby- 
terians, with a false doctrine of the ministry and sacra- 
ments, and are at best but a poor imitation of the sig- 
nificant ritual in which they originated. The simpli- 
city and spirituality of Christian worship would seem 
better represented and promoted by those traditional 
symbols of Pres^yterianism, the pulpit, the communion- 
table, the baptismal font, and (if anything more official 
than the ordinary clerical dress is desired) the Genevan 
robes, customary in the Dutch churches or the scholar's 
gown, still in use in some of our own pulpits. 

For similar reasons the rubrics concerning behaviour 
have been expunged, except in the few instances where 



* Cranmer's "Six Reasons why the Lord's Board should rather be 
after the form of a Table than of an Altar.' 5 Remains and Letters, 
p. 52-4. Similar opinions were maintained by Bishops Ridley, 
Hooper, &c. 

f Bishop Jewel pronounced it " a stage dress, a fool's coat, a relique 
of the Amorites." Archbishop Grindal "hesitated about accepting 
a mitre from dislike of what he called the mummery of consecra- 
tion," and together with Bishops Sandys and Noel, was " in favor of 
leaving off the surplice." In these views Bucer and Martyr con- 
curred. Zurich Letters, 161; Original Letters of Ret.. 483, 585. 
Strype'e Ecc. Mem., chap, xxviii ; and Life of Cranmer, vd. ii. p. 210; 



64 ANALYSIS OF THE PRAYER-BOOK. 



some direction seemed needful, and not likely to treneh 
upon existing usage or liberty. The genuflexions, into- 
nations, and bowings, practised in the English ritual, 
were desired by our forefathers to be left free to each 
worshipper, because of a feeling that nothing is so abhor- 
rent in the sight of both God and man, as a devout 
demeanor, -which is either enforced or simulated. The 
Book as here amended may be used either by the min- 
ister alone, or by the congregation with him, when both 
are so agreed; the minister leading in the whole ser- 
vice audibly, and the congregation accompanying him 
with the heart or with the voice also, in those parts 
marked as more especially assigned to them, according 
as each one's devotion shall prompt him. It should be 
said, however, that the actual reading of divine service 
by the parties, is a species of pupilage, to be endured 
only until they have become so familiar with it as to be 
able to say it from the heart without any danger of say- 
ing it only from the book. 

As to responses, except where personal feeling is strong 
enough to impel them above the low tone of ordinary 
devotion, we may urge the objection, brought against 
them two hundred years ago, that "they cause a con- 
fused murmur in the congregation, whereby what is 
read is less intelligible and therefore unedifying;"* and 
the difficulty, always encountered of making them gene- 
ral and accordant, renders them on grounds of taste as 
well as of devotion, unsuitable to a mixed assembly. 
They properly belong in fact to the choral or monastic 
service from which they were borrowed, and in which 
they were artistically rendered by trained worshippers, 
and in a Protestant Church must cease to be express- 
ive precisely in proportion as they become impressive. 

As to posture, we only remark in general, that while 
standing and kneeling are both of them scriptural atti- 
tudes in prayer, and alike sanctioned by catholic and 
Presbyterian usagef yet in using these services it will 



* Presbyterian " Exceptions." No. iii. See Appendix, and Eutaxia, 
page 27. 

f " To pray standing, was in public worship believed to have been 
m Apostolic usage. The Presbyterians of Scotland, and at times the 



THE REVISED RUBRICS. 



85 



be most convenient for the worshipper to bow the head 
or the knee in the Prayers and Confessions, to stand 
up in the Creeds, Psalms, Hymns and Doxologies, and 
to remain seated during Lessons, Exhortations, and 
Sermons. 

In nothing is the rigidity and bondage of an imposed 
Prayer-book so manifest as in the mode of combining, or 
rather aggregating together the several offices it pres. 
cribes. According to the theory of those offices, the 
Lord's day would be marked by a succession of distinct 
services each complete in itself, and performed at differ- 
ent hours ; beginning with Morning Prayer at dawn, 
and ending with Evening Prayer at twilight, with the 
Litany, Sermon, and Communion, intervening towards 
mid-day as the distinguishing or proper services of the 
day. Instead of crudely joining all of these together 
in a single morning service, full of needless repetitions 
and a tedious prolixity of parts, it would seem more 
reasonable to use each, as originally designed, sepa- 
rately, or at least to combine them with some discretion. 
It will be found, by following the rubric as amended, 
that without any perplexity to either party, the minis- 
ter may practise either of the following six varieties of 
devotional service before the Sermon or Communion : 

1. Morning Prayer. 4. Morning Prayer and Litany. 

2. Litany. 5. Litany and Sunday Service. 

3. Sunday Service. 6. Sunday Service and Litany. 

A principal section of one office might also be con- 
joined to that of another, by proceeding as far as the 



Lutherans of Germany, are probably the only occidental Christians 
who now observe the one only rubric laid down for Christian wor- 
ship by the first (Ecumenical Council." Stanley's Eastern Church, 
page 263, The Direction in Pollanus' Liturgy is " Ac toto hoc tem- 
pore (during Confession and Absolution,) populus magna cum reve- 
rentia vel astat, Tel procumbit in genua, utut animus cujusque tule- 
rit." Posture in the Daily service was prescribed only in the Creed and 
Coniession, until the last revision. In the Communion, kneeling 
was prescribed, but according to I. and II. Edward, it was to " be used 
or left as every man's devotion serveth, without blame," See Docu- 
ments, p. 131. Among the Proposals of 1689, was one, " That if 
any refuse to receive the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper kneeling, 
it may be administered to them in their pews." Calamy, p. 453. In 
the Church of Calvin the communicants came forward by groups to 
receive the elements. Eutaxia, p. 45. 



86 ANALYSIS OP THE PRAYER-BOOK. 



First Lesson, and then beginning the Lord's day service 
(Ante-Communion,) or by proceeding as far as the Sec- 
ond Lesson, and then beginning the Epistle and Gospel 
for the day, (or Proper Service,) according to either of 
the following conjunctions : 



Collect and Commandments. > or < Epistle and Gospel. 



This arrangement would not only obviate the repeti- 
tious use of Lessons, as well as Creeds, but also afford 
the means of adapting the service to the church-season 
by omitting either the Commandments, or the Te Deum, 
according to the nature of the occasion ; and it ought 
not to disturb a liturgical purist, as much as the patch- 
work of inserting the Communion-Absolution, Creed y 
and Gloria in Excelsis ? in the midst of the Daily Prayer. 

The use of some such discretion as to omissions or vari- 
ations, will be the more needful if any of the Occa- 
sional services are to be introduced, or if the cir- 
cumstances are so extraordinary as to require a modifi- 
cation of the whole service. The Presbyterian revisers 
were surely not hypercritical, when they questioned 
whether it did not savor of "vain repetition," for even 
the Lord's prayer to be said six times,* by the same 
assembly ; and that they were neither factions nor 
eccentric in craving for the minister the judicious " use 
of those gifts for prayer and exhortation, which Christ 
hath given him for the service and edification of the 
church, according to its various and emergent neces- 
sity,"! is shown by the fact that we have lived to see 
Episcopalian Prayer-meetings in advance of Presbyte- 
rian Prayer-books. 

Sect. IV. The Revised Daily Services. 

In all the Reformed Churches it was the custom to 
have Daily Prayers, J morning and evening, at church 
as well as at home, in distinction from those of Roman- 



• Documents, &c, p. 124, 306. f Ibid. p. 17, 115. 

% Calvin's Daily Offices. Eutaxia, chap. iii. 




THE REVISED DAILY SERVICES. 



<7 



Ism, which were monastic, rather than congregational 
or domestic ; and when the Latin was superseded by 
the English service, the Versieles, Collects, Canticles, 
and Creeds, which had been hitherto confined to the 
priest and choir, were transferred in the form of Com- 
mon Prayers to the whole worshipping assembly. '-The 
history of the English church tells of ceaseless endea- 
vors to make these services in practice what they were 
in theory, the ritual of the whole body of the faithful. 
But the seven-fold nature of the scheme on which they 
were framed, and withal their unvernacular shape, for- 
bad the possibility of any such use of them."* They 
are in fact the least Protestant portions of the Prayer- 
book, and are not to be found in any of the Reformed 
Liturgies, though as here presented, it will be seen that 
they have been comparatively freed from the objections 
mentioned. 

The Order for Daily Prayer may be conveniently con- 
sidered in three parts, 1. the introduction, consist- 
ing of the Sentences. Exhortation, Confession, and Abso- 
lution ; 2. the body of the service, consisting of the 
Lord's Prayer, Gloria Patri, Psalmody, Lessons, Creed, 
and Collects; and 3. the conclusion, consisting of the 
Prayers, Thanksgivings, and Benediction. We shall 
find that of these several parts, the first and third are 
of Presbyterian origin, while the intermediate portion, 
after the Presbyterian revisions through which it has 
passed, retains scarcely anything Roman or Anglican. 

(I.) "The truth respecting the very appropriate 
opening of our service seems to be,''' says Procter, 
"that the hint was taken from two books of service, 
used by congregations of refugees in England, which 
were published about this time : the one being the 
version of Calvin's form by Pollanus; and the other 
that used by the Walloons under John A. Lasco." The 
idea of such a penitential introduction, to take the place 
of private confession and absolution, was due to Calvin, 
and its whole structure is obviously Protestant, popular, 
and at variance with mediaeval models. f It therifort 



* Freeman as quoted by Proctor. 

t Compare the Conjiteor with any Reformed Confession, 



88 ANALYSIS OF THE PRAYER-BOOK. 



appears in the Prayer-book, prefixed to the Morning 
Prayer, and is not found in the first edition, nor printed 
before the Evening Prayer until the last edition.* 

The Sentences form the basis of the Exhortation, and 
are sundry texts of Scripture designed to move to the 
Confession and prepare for the Absolution. In the 
Morning Prayer, they have been retained without change, 
as found in the English edition; but in the Evening 
Prayer others have been added, for alternative use, of 
a more various import, compiled from different Re- 
formed Liturgies. 

The Exhortation inculcates the need of Confession 
and Absolution, or penitence ano pardon, as prelimi- 
nary to the acts of thanksgiving, praise, hearing of 
God's Word, and prayer, which are announced as to 
follow in the body of the service. It was evidently 
modelled upon similar forms, common in all the Re- 
formed Churches, and is eminently applicable to a 
congregation emerging into the light of Protestant 
worship, or to a congregation needing instruction in the 
elements of such worship, or to any congregation as a 
weekly or occasional exhortation, but its use twice 
every day would be but one of the inconsistencies of a 
liturgy that allows no discretion. 

The Confession follows as the act of the congregation, 
incited to repentance by the Sentences and Exhortation, 
and is necessarily general in its ter ms, though not origin- 
ally designed to preclude more particular confession, 
which might be silently made during a brief pause at 
the close. It was derived from the Calvinistic models 
of Polianus and Lasco, but is English, and more scriptu- 
ral in style, and less doctrinal in its import. Its sup- 
posed want of an explicit acknowledgment of original 
as well as actual sin was denied by the Episcopalians^ 
is still scrupled by Unitarians, J and, if originally 



* Compare Breviarium Romanum, King Edward's First Prayer- 
book and Primer, and the present English Prayer-book. 

f Answer of the Bishops; Documents, p. 115; Burnet's Hist, of 
the Ref., p. 415. 

X Compare Common Prayer for Christian Worship, edited by Rev. 
James Martineau, and the Book of Common Prayer according to the 
use of King's Chapel, Boston, in both of which the phrase, " there is 
is no health in us," is omitted. 



THE REVISED DAILY SERVICES. 89 



intended, could not have been significant in a book 
that elsewhere abounds in assertions of that doctrine. 
Such dogmatic confessions, indeed, would seem rather 
to befit some later stage of the service than its begin- 
ning; and however valuable and essential they may be 
in their proper place, it would certainly be a rash hand 
that, for the sake of them, would now mar this time- 
hallowed formula. 

The Absolution {or Remission of Sins, as the title was 
amended after the Hampton revision, in deference to 
Puritan scruples against a word of popish sound) 
ensues upon the Confession as the act of the Minister 
speaking to the people in the name and by the author- 
ity of Christ. It differs from other official declarations 
of diving grace only in being more formal and in de- 
riving peculiar solemnity from its connection with an 
act of public devotion. Such a formula is found in all 
the Calvinistic Hturgies except the Genevan, from which 
it was excluded by a scruple. " There is none of us," 
says Calvin, 4 'but must acknowledge it to be very use- 
ful that, after the General Confession, some striking 
promise of Scripture should follow, whereby sinners 
might be raised to the hopes of pardon and reconcilia- 
tion. And I would have introduced this custom from 
the beginning, but some fearing the novelty of it would 
give offence, I was over easy in yielding to them;* so 
the thing was omitted, and now it would not be season- 
able to make any change, because the greatest part of 
our people begin to rise up before we come to the end 
of the Confession." In most of the Reformed Churches, 
the Absolution was variable in form, consisting simply 
of "some striking promise of Scripture," pronounced 
by the minister, like the "Comfortable Words" after 
the Confession in the Communion service ; but in 
Lasco's liturgy, from which the Prayer-book version 
was taken, f it had assumed a more liturgical, though 



* It was, however, adopted, through his advice in other Reformed 
Churches, and especially incorporated in his Strasburg liturgy, 
which his disciple and successor Pollanus introduced into England, 
and upon the basis of which Lasco's Service-book was framed. 

f " In this book. (Lasco's,)" says Procter, "there is a form of Con- 
fession and of Absolution, in which some phrases resemble the cor* 

8* 



90 ANALYSIS OP THE PRAYER-BOOK. 



less scriptural style. The petition, or mutual interces* 
sion of minister and people, with which it concludes, 
(unhappily turned into an exhortation in late editions, 
but in this preserved literally,) gathers up the purport 
of the whole preceding service as preparatory to that 
which is to follow, and so meets a want felt by the 
Presbyterian revisionists.* 

(II.) At this point we leave the modern, and enter 
upon the ancient portion of the office; and that which 
forms our second general division. It consists mainly of 
Psalms and Lessons, those catholic elements of all wor- 
ship, both Hebrew and Christian, Romanist and Protest- 
ant, but is peculiar in admitting a responsive element 
more largely than any other congregational liturgy ; a 
peculiarity due to its monastic origin, and here modi- 
fied by the Presbyterian emendations. 

The Lord's Prayer, with which it begins, fittingly 
enters the service as that divine model and rule,f it 
ever behoves us to use, "when we pray." In the 
Latin ritual, it had been said secretly by the Priest alone, 
the Choir responding as he raised his voice in the con- 
cluding petition; but afterwards it was said aloud by 
the minister, and since the last revision, by both minis- 
ter and people. The doxology with which it closes, was 
added at the instance of the Presbyterians, J is scriptu- 
ral, in accordance with Greek as distinguished from 
Roman usage, and appropriately connects the preced- 



responding portions which were added to the Second Book of King 
Edward VI. 1 Neque amplius velis mortem peccatoris, sed potius ut 
convertatur et vivat . . . omnibus vere poenitentibus (qui videlicet 
agnitis pecatis sui3 cum sui accusatione gratiam ipsius per nomen 
Christi Domini imploraDt) omnia ipsorum peccata prorsus condonet 
atque aboleat . . . omnibus, inquam, vobis qui ita affecti, estis 
denuncio, fiducia promissionum Christi, vestra peccata omnia in 
coelo a Deo Patre nostro modis plaue omnibus remissa esse . . . opem 
tuam divinam per meritum Filii tui dilecti supplices imploramus . . 
nobisque dones Spiritum Sanctum tuum . . . ut lex tua sancti illi 
(cordi) insculpi ac per nos demum . . . tota vita nostra exprimi ejus 
beneficio possit.' " 
♦ Exception XVII. 

+ Larger Catechism, p. 187. Westminster Directory. Public Prayer« 
% Exceptions. See Appendix. 



THE REVISED DAILY SERVICES. 91 



ing act of penitence with the following office of praise 
and psalmody. 

In the edition which was before the Savoy Commis- 
sioners, certain Versicles taken from the ancient service, 
Were then added as follows : 

Minister. Lord, open thou our lips, 
Answer. And our mouth shall show forth thy praiso. 
Minister. God, make speed to save us, 
Answer. God, make haste to help us. 
Minister. Glory be to the Father, and to the, &c. t 
As it was in the beginning, is now, &c. 
Praise ye the Lord. 

In accordance with the Presbyterian Exceptions,* we 
have retained only so much of this portion as seems 
needful to mark the transition of the service, and in a 
form neither requiring, nor precluding the responses. 
The second couplet in fact breaks the sense and is easily 
spared, but the Gloria Patri, which is a Trinitarian dox- 
ology of primitive origin and Presbyterian sanction,! is 
certainly appropriate to the worshipper, rising from con- 
fession, absolution, and prayer, to engage in praise. 
After the minister's invitation, Praise ye the Lord, an 
additional response, "The Lord's name be praised, " 
was interpolated, by Laud, J in the Scottish Prayer-book 
of 1637, and is still found in late editions. 

The Yenite Exultemus.l or 95th Psalm, had been sung 
from an early period, as introductory either to the whole 
service, or to the psalmody immediately following it? 
and for ordinary occasions there could certainly be no 
Psalm more appropriate ; but there may be times when 
discretion will suggest some other selection, both here 
and also at the opening of the Evening Prayer, where 
another example is given. 

After the Ventte comes the daily portion of the Psal- 
ter, which, according to mediaeval usage, was sung 



* Exception III.. 

f Rejoinder. Documents, pp. 210, 29r. According to BellaTmine 
f 4 was " formed in the Council of Nicsea, as a particular testimony 
against the Arians." 

i Proctor's Hist, of Prayer-book, p. 213. 

\ The Latin titles, which are remnants of the ancient service. ar« 
iLo first phrase or words of the Psalm or Hymn to which they refer. 



92 ANALYSIS OP THE PRAYER-BOOK. 



through in course once every week, and for this pur- 
pose divided into seven parte called nocturns; but in 
the reformed service was appointed to be read through 
once every month, a change which has the advantage of 
bringing the whole Book of Psalms into the Sunday 
Service, though not in their inspired order. It may be 
questioned, therefore, whether a yearly course of the 
Psalms, arranged for the Lord's day alone, would not 
secure a more orderly acquaintance with them, in view 
of modern usage as to daily services ; and such an 
arrangement may be found in one of the Tables. 

The responsive reading of the verses by minister and 
people may have been a rude substitute for the anti- 
phonal chanting of priest and choir; but it is open to 
the objection already urged against all unmusical re- 
sponses ; it is in violation of the sense or rhythm which 
is often parallelistic in the members of each verse, 
rather than by alternate verses;* and, except for habit- 
uated nerves, is even less solemn than the doggerel of 
Rouse, or Watts unequally yoked with worldly airs. 
The experience of the whole Church would seem to be 
fast settling towards the conviction that the Psalms 
cannot with propriety be either versified or read, but 
should be simply chanted in prose, f according to their 
original structure in the temple-service, and the usage 
of catholic antiquity. In such a view, the extremes of 
doctrine and culture may meet, the most conscientious 
advocacy of literal psalmody be reconciled to the high- 
est style of musical art, and the vexed relations of 
choir and congregation harmoniously adjusted. And it 
is this class of considerations which has mainly influ- 
enced us in here retaining the older version of the 
Psalter. It is more Calvinistic in origin, and more 
Saxon in style, than the approved translation ; J and 



* Tholuek on the Psalms ; Introduction. Sect. ii. Hengstgnberg 
on the Psalms; Appendix. The Formal Arrangement of the 
Psalms. 

f Assembly's Digest ; Psalmody. 

% The Prayer-book Psalter was derived from several German and 
Latin versions as translated into English and afterwards twice 
revised by Coverdale, "a zealous Calvinist, both in doctrine and dis- 
cipline," who, together with Whittiagham, Knox, Pollanus, and 



THE REVISED DAILY SERVICES. 



93 



though not to be compared with it for didactic purposes 
when read as the rest of holy Scripture in lessons, jet 
it is certainly quite as "smooth and fit for song" as any 
metrical version, and has the advantage of having been 
long in use, and of being already pointed as it is to be 
sung; the colon (:) in each verse marking the division 
of the chant, throughout the Psalter, as in all the other 
musical portions of this edition. 

The repetition of the Gloria Patri after each Psalm 
was questioned by the Presbyterians as a somewhat 
mechanical performance: is not in accordance with the 
most catholic usage, and af^er some Psalms is evidently 
unsuitable ; but its use at the close of the psalmody 
may serve to Christianize the Hebrew lyrics, and would 
seem to be a fitting climax to the act of praise, espe- 
cially when, upon its first occurrence, it has been said 
rather than sung. 

We next enter upon the didactic part of the office, the 
Reading of the Scriptures, which is assigned exclusively 
to the Minister of the Word, and fitly follows the con- 
gregational acts of confession and psalmody, as that 
"part of the public worship of God wherein we acknow- 
ledge our dependence upon him, and subjection to him, 
and one means sanctified by him for the edifying of his 
people."* Before the Reformation, it had been "so 
altered, broken, and neglected, by planting in uncer- 
tain stories and legends, with a multitude of responds, 
verses, vain repetitions, commemorations, and synod- 
als,"f as to have become wholly unintelligible. The 
reading of two Lessons in every service, one from each 
Testament, and in the order of the canon, is in accord- 
ance with primitive and Presbyterian usage; serves to 
mark the development and unity of divine revelation 
under both dispensations; and instructs both minister 
and people in the knowledge of Crod. But we may 
doubt whether a daily course of Lessons, as of Psalms, 



others, engaged in preparing the Geneva Bible. See Home's Biblical 
Bibliography, pp. TO — 75. 

* Westminster Directory; Reading cf the Seripturps. 

t King; Edward's Praier-took, Preface concerning the service ct 
the Church. 



94 ANALYSTS OF THE PRAYER-BOOK. 



is not less suited to modern habits of public worship 
than a yearly course for Sundays alone; and have 
therefore added such a Table, which has the high sanc- 
tion of the Church of Scotland/* 

As to the Proper Lessons and Proper Psalms, or such 
as are severally proper to the different Sundays of the 
church year, we only remark, in passing, that they 
apparently befit the Lord's Day Service better than the 
Daily Prayer, which latter office is adjusted to the civil 
rather than to the ecclesiastical calendar, and would 
seem to require a rehearsal of the sacred books in their 
inspired connection and canonical order, as fundamen- 
tal and preliminary to the more dogmatic re-arrange- 
ment of them in the Sunday service. 

The Apocryphal Scriptures are omitted not^merely 
because of their spurious claim and erroneous con- 
tents, but also because their use in the form of Lessons 
cannot but adulterate "the very pure Word of God."f 
And on the same principle, the discarded Lessons from 
the Book of the Apocalypse are restored. 

It was a primitive custom, and is also directed in the 
Book of Common Order, J that the reading of the 
Scriptures should be intermingled with the singing of 
Psalms; and the Canticles, which are the fixed portions 
of the office, serve this purpose of relieving the atten- 
tion after the Lessons, and giving life and variety to the 
service. 

The Te Deum Laudamus, called in the Breviary the 
" Canticle of Ambrose and Augustine," from an old 
legend that at their baptism it was sung alternately by 
them as composed by inspiration, is one of the earliest 
Christian hymns of praise, and has also somewhat "the 
appearance of a choral paraphrase of the Creed." The 
reading and musical pointing of the English edition are 
retained without alteration. § 



* Aids to Devotion", prepared by a Com. of Gen. Assemb. 

f Preface of 1549. It was also proposed in 1689, "that the Jpocry? 
phal Lessons and those of the Old Testament which are too Natural, 
be thrown out." Calamy, p 453. See Conf. of Faitk, chap i. 

% Book of Pub. Pr., Appendix 350. 

| A verbal improvement was proposed in 1689, "That those wo?da 
hi the Tt Deum, 1 Thine Honourable, true, and Onl v Son,' be turned 



THE REVISED DAILY SERVICES. 95 



The Benedicite, or 44 Song of the Three Children," was 
added after the Te Deum for alternative use, during 
Lent or at discretion ; but its apocryphal character 
made it less acceptable to the Presbyterians than 
"some Psalm or Scripture hymn;" and the LaudaU 
Dominum, (Ps. 148,) of "which it is a lyrical exposition, 
has been substituted for it, as further recommended at 
the semi-Presbyterian revision in 1689. * 

The Benedictics, (Luke i. 68,) or "Song of the Prophet 
Zacharias," was one of the first New Testament hymns, 
and has been used from a remote period in the position 
where it occurs, after the Lessons, as expressing praise 
for the fulfilment of the Old in the New dispensation. 

The Jubilate Deo, (Ps. 100), a Psalm of Thanksgiving, 
was added as an alternate to the Benedictus, when that 
Bong should have been read immediately before in the 
daily course of Lessons. 

The corresponding Canticles-j- at Evening Prayer, 
Magnificat, (Luke i. 46,) or "Song of the Virgin Mary," 
Nunc Dimittis, (Luke ii. 29,) or "Song of Simeon," with 
their alternate Psalms, Cantate Domino, (Ps. 98,) and 
Benedic anima mea, (Ps. 103,) follow the Prophecies and 
Epistles as appropriate hymns of praise for the bless- 
ings of a completed revelation, and were early used in 
the Calvinistic as well as primitive churches. J 

The Apostles' Creed seems naturally to er.:ue upon the 
Lessons as a personal confession of faith in the Scrip- 
tures, of which it is but a doctrinal summary, orthodox 
in its purport, catholic in its usage, and liturgical in its 
Style. As it was not fully developed until the Second 
or Third Century, it could not have been compiled by 
the Apostles, according to the legend, which attributes 
a clause to each of them; though it appears to have 
originated in the baptismal formula with gradual accre- 
tions, and to have been at first the individual profession 



Into 'thine Only-begotten Son,' Honourable being only a civil term, 
fend nowhere used in Sacris." Calamy, p. 454. 
* Exceptions; Appendix. Proctor, p. 147. 

f It was proposed, in 1689, to substitute Psalms for the New Tea* 
tament Canticles. Compare Calamy, p. 451, and Piofc Episc. Prayer* 
took. 

X .Lutaoda, p. 27. 



96 ANALYSIS OF THE PRAYER-BOOK. 



of converts or catechumens, rather than an ordinary 
act of public worship.* It was retained in all the Pro- 
testant Confessions, is the text and frame- work of Cal- 
vin's " Institutes of Theology," and not only lies at the 
"basis of our own Catechisms, but is given as a formula 
to be taught to children as part of their training for the 
Lord's Supper, f 

As in the beginning of the service the minister 
declares the divine grace after the people have con- 
fessed their, sins, so here at length, after the minister 
has declared the divine word, the people confess their 
faith, and are thus in readiness for those more mature 
devotions, the supplications, intercessions, and thanks- 
givings which are to follow. 

From this point, according to the Prayer-book in the 
hands of the Savoy Commissioners, the office was thus 
continued : 

Minister, The Lord be with yon, 
Answer. And with thy Spirit. 

Minister. Let us pray. 

Lord have mercy upon us. 

Christ have mercy upon us. 
Lord have mercy upon us. 

f Then the Minister, Clerks, and people shall say the Lorflfs prayer in 

English with a loud voice. 

Our Father, which art in heaven, &c. 
f Then the Minister standing up shall say, 
Lord, show thy mercy upon us. 
Answer. And grant us thy salvation. 
Minister. Lord, save the King. 

Answer. And mercifully hear us when we call upon thee* 

Minister. Endue thy ministers with righteousness. 

Answer. And make thy chosen people joyful. 

Minister. Lord, save thy people. 

Answer. And bless thine inheritance. 

Minister. Give peace in our time, Lord. 

Answer. Because there is none other that fighteth for us^ 

but only thou, God. 
Minister. God, make clean our hearts within us. 
Answer. And take not thy Holy Spirit from us. 



* The Nicene Greed seems to have been reserved in all the Re- 
formed Churches for the Communion as the proper Eucharistical 
Confession of Faith; the Apostles' Creed being, strictly speaking, a 
Baptismal Confession. See Dr. Krauth's Sunday Service, pp. 4d r 47. 
Proctor, p. 228. Bunsen's Hippolytus, vol. ii. p. 92. 

f Directory, chap. ix. 



THE REVISED DAILY SERVICES. 



97 



For the reasons already mentioned.* we have not felt 
*t liberty to retain more of this portion than the con- 
nection seems to require. The Lesser Litany, the repe- 
tition of the Lord's Frayer and the versicular petitions 
for the King, for Ministers, for the People, and for 
Peace, however beautiful they may be considered in a 
liturgical light, are suited only to a choral service, and 
as to their import superseded by the more Protestant 
forms of prayer which conclude the office. But the 
mutual Salutation of minister and people, which was a 
primitive, if not apostolic formula, is appropriate to the 
parties before entering the divine presence as suppli- 
ants; and the first and last couplet of versicles, which 
are respectively taken from the 85th and 51st Psalms, 
recommend themselves as suitable introductory petitions 
with which to begin the prayers following. 

The Collect for the Day here enters as a link of the 
church-year connecting the Daily with the Sunday 
service, and when the Proper Lessons have been read 
before it, it may be relevant; but it is better reserved 
for the office in which it originated, and where alone, in 
most cases, its fitness can become fully apparent. 

The Collect for Peace, which is not in the ancient 
Daily office, belongs to a special service in the Sacra- 
mentary, and is of the nature of an occasional prayer, f 
suitable to a warlike age, and perhaps to the troubled 
state of public affairs at the time the Prayer-book was 
formed. J It is certainly a beautiful petition, and has 
acquired new meaning and force from the present dis- 
tracted state of our country: but that it should have 
been recited at other times, and for generations, without 
regard to its irrelevancy, only shows how impossible it 
is to frame a liturgy on the principle of an enforced uni- 
formity, and may illustrate the general criticism passed 



* See page 91 above, and r.lso the Episcopalian proposals for the 
comprehension of the Presbyterians. "To omit all the responsal 
Prayers to the Litany." Calamy. p. 320. 

f it appears in the Missa pro Pace, placed after the Missa Umprnrt 
belli, and also among the Litany Collects: and although found in 
the Sunday service, yet it was net used in the week aay or ferial 
officer, Compare Miss. Rom.. Brey. Rom., and Procters Comparati7t 
Table p. US. % Procter, p. 2o£. 

a 



98 ANALYSIS OF THE PRAYER-BOOK. 



by the Presbyterians upon the Collects, that some of 
them have "no suitableness with the occasions upon 
which they are used, but seem to have fallen in rather 
casually, than from an orderly contrivance."* 

The two Collects for Grace, the one at Morning and 
the other at Evening Prayer, are of very ancient origin, 
and the only collects obviously pertinent to a Daily 
office. The first phrase of the latter, "Lighten our 
darkness, we beseech thee, Lord," is especially suit, 
able to a twilight service ; but to use the former, with 
its expression, " the beginning of this day," so late as 
noon or mid-day, is a solecism which, together with that 
involved in the invariable use of the other collects, may 
be obviated by attention to the preceding rubric con- 
cerning the use of the Litany. 

(III.) We next enter upon our third and last division, 
beginning at the point where the old Latin, and the 
early English office ended. The remaining Prayers are 
mainly a Puritan accretion of forms which grew out 
of the felt unsuitableness of the preceding Versicles, 
and Collects, to Protestant worship in a popular assem- 
bly, and are framed upon the principle enunciated by 
the Presbyterians in 1661; "the Holy Scriptures, both 
of the Old and New Testament, intimating the people's 
part in public prayer to be only with silence and rever- 
ence to attend thereunto, and to declare their consent 
in the close by saying Amen."f 

The Prayer for the Chief Magistrate and all in Author- 
ity is the English "Prayer for the King's Majesty," 
adapted to American ideas of government by substitut- 
ing for the words, "the only Ruler of princes," the 
more republican and equally scriptural phrase, "the 
Blessed and Only Potentate," and by insertipg less per- 
sonal petitions in place of the loyal request, " grant him 
in health and wealth long to live" which is very be- 
coming under a monarchy, but not so suitable to a ruler 
whose political existence terminates every four years. J 
The whole pray Br is in accordance with apostolic injunc- 



* Exception XVI. f Exception III. See Appendix. 

% Compare the alterations here made with analogous phrases fa 
tho Collect for the Kingj Communion Office} English Prayer-hook* 



THE REVISED DAILY SERVICES. 99 



tion and with universal feeling, is scriptural in style 
and purport, and no doubt originated at a very early 
period of the Reformation, though it does not appear in 
King Edward's First Prayer-book, and was used as the 
first of the occasional prayers at the close of the Litany 
until 1661, when it was transferred to its present 
position. 

The Prayer for Ministers and Congregations is the 
ancient Collect, as amended by the Parliamentary Com- 
mittee in 1641, and the Royal Commission of 1689,* and 
more exactly conformed to the doctrine of ministerial 
parity and communion. The title of Bishop, though 
scriptural and Presbyterian,! is not yet so generally 
attributed to ministers as to admit of its use in a form 
of devotion without misapprehension. 

The Prayer for all Conditions of Men, or General 
Intercession, by whomsoever composed, originated in 
the Presbyterian revision as a substitute for the Col- 
lects, and is evidently modelled upon, if not largely 
quoted from, Calvinistic prayers, already authorized 
and domesticated in England. J The word " finally'* 
seems inappropriate in so short a form, and is supposed 
to indicate that originally it was much longer, including 
such petitions for the king, clergy, and people, as are 
found in the preceding Versicles and Collects. But 
when the latter were retained by the Episcopalians at 
the last revision, it became necessary to omit the for- 
mer, somewhat at the expense of the connection. The 
break might possibly be supplied by restoring, from the 
sources whence the form was taken, some addition of 
this kind: "And we also beseech thee, be merciful to 
all Christian States and Rulers, that under them thy 
true religion may be everywhere maintained, manners 
reformed, and sin punished, according to the rule of thy 



* Procter, p. 99. Calamy says it was proposed in 1689 that "thosa 
words in the Prayer for the Clergy, who alone worJcest great marvels. 
as subject to te ill interpreted by persons vainly disposed, shall be 
thus, Who alone art the Author of all good gifts." Life of Baxter, 
p. 454 

f Conf. of Faith, chap. iv. 

X Compare Exception XVI; Procter, p. 262; Liturgical Service^ 
Queen Eliz , p. 266; Eutaxia, pp. 38, 39, 157. 



100 ANALYSIS OF THE PRAYER-BOOK. 



Word." Such an amendment, besides being in keeping 
■with the philanthropic spirit of the prayer, would com- 
plete the sense without interfering with that of the more 
particular intercessions preceding it. 

The General Thanksgiving was composed by Reynolds, 
one of the Presbyterian Commissioners, and in accord- 
ance with their suggestion, to meet a defect which had 
been felt from the time of the Hampton Conference.* 
It breathes a thoroughly evangelical spirit, and in style 
is distinguishable from mediseval expressions of grati- 
tude, which were in the form of Canticles and short 
Collects. The English edition has it among the " Occa- 
sional Prayers, to be used before the two final Prayers 
of the Litany, or of Morning and Evening Prayer;" 
but as here placed, for habitual use, it follows any 
Special Thanksgivings which have preceded it, as the 
General Intercession follows the Special Intercessions, 
and also forms a fitting climax to the whole office, 
which, having begun in a General Confession, may 
fittingly end with a General Thanksgiving. 

The Prayer of St. Chrysostom, though not certainly 
traceable to that Saint, is of Greek origin, and appears 
in all ancient liturgies. As a concluding petition, foun- 
ded upon the promise of divine grace and presence in all 
common or social prayers, it naturally arises in every 
heart in view of the petitions before offered. 

The Apostolic Benediction, or benedictory prayer; does 
not appear in the Latin or early English office, was first 
placed at the end of Queen Elizabeth's Litany, and was 
not added to the Daily Prayer until the last revision. 
It was however customary in the primitive Church as 
a substitute for the ancient Levitical blessing, and 
doubtless grew out of the Apostolic valediction, used 
not only at the close of the Epistles, but also in dismiss- 
ing worshipping assemblies, for which purpose it should 
be reserved, according to Presbyterian usage, f when 



* Compare Exception XTIT. § 2 ; Rejoinder, p, 267 ; Procter, p, 263, 
and authorities there quoted. 

f It was also used ia ih.^Caivinistie Churches as a Salutation, in the 
form in which it occurs ac the beginning of the Apostolic Epistles; 
the Minister pronouncing it as the first act of Divine Service; and it 
\b still so used ie ihe Reformed Dutch Church in this country. W« 



THE REVISED LITANY. 



101 



other services are to follow. Its use in the form here 
presented (with the pronoun you changed to us) as a 
common prayer, rather than as an official blessing, 
thjugh not in strict accordance with the Scripture 
formula, may relieve any scruples which are felt when 
the conductor of the service is not an ordained minister. 

If now the reader, in the light of these investigations, 
will compare the Daily Service in this Book with that in 
King Edward's First Book, he will be able to test the 
claims we have asserted. He will find that the two have 
scarcely anything in common, but such scriptural and 
ancient forms, as originated beyond the pale, and before 
the existence of the Church of England. So distinguish- 
able indeed are all late editions by reason of their Cal- 
vinistic, Puritan, and Presbyterian accretions, that we do 
not hesitate to admit, that for all the purposes of rhetori- 
cal impression and artistic effect, they are far inferior to 
the beautiful service as it was first translated, and 
before the hand of innovation had marred its symmetry.* 
And if we prefer the former, it is only because we doubt 
if there can now be any safe or consistent mean between 
a liturgy that shall be primitive and Protestant, and one 
that is essentially mediaeval and monastic. 

Sect. V. The Revised Litany. 

The Litany, which appears as a distinct office in all 
Prayer-books, was the earliest English, and probably 



have placed it among the Introductory Sentences, where it may serve 
the same purpose. Either there or at the close of the service, as a 
form of greeting, or of dismissing the people, it fulfils its original 
design; but its occurrence in the midst of the service, as an ordin- 
ary prayer, is due to a want of such discretionary power in combin- 
ing this office with others, as is suggested by the preceding rubric. 
Compare Conf of Faith, pp. 444, 447, 503. And Princeton Review, 
April 1881. Article v. The Apostolic Benediction. Assembly's 
Digest, p. 83. Levitical Blessing, Num. vi. 22 — 26. 

* •• In approaching these Calvinistic innovations, our ritualist 18 
Badly at fault. Loath to refer them to their unmistakeable sources, 
he takes a new journey into the past, and overhauls his accumula- 
ted stores of missals, pontificals, and sacramentaries, but comes back 
With nothing that ingenuity can twist into a semblance of pater- 
nity. We shrink from the cruelty of informing him at last, that 
these forms are the offspring of a system, which however venerated 
by his fathers, is identified to his mind with 8 heresy, false doctrine, 
and schism,' from which be piously prays, ' Deliver us.' " Eutaxia, 
page 193. 



102 ANALYSIS OF THE PRAYER-BOOK. 



also the earliest Roman and Greek form of public suppli« 
cation. Its peculiar structure is said to have originated 
in a primitive custom of "bidding prayers;" the minis- 
ter naming the subject of the petition, and the people 
ejaculating, Lord, have m,ercy upon us, or some like phrase. 
In process of time this usage, is supposed to have become 
a methodical form, in which the petitions and respon- 
ses were always the same; and at length it reached litur- 
gical perfection as chaunted in solemn processions of the 
clergy and people during the church fasts, or on occa- 
sions of public calamity. 

The Litany, which was before the Savoy Commission- 
ers for revision, had derived its framework and body 
from the old Latin form, but was also indebted for par- 
ticular ideas and phrases to Hermann's Consultation or 
Reformation Book, as well as to the emendations of the 
English Reformers. The relative amount and value 
of these several portions will appear from the follow- 
ing version,* in which the parts due to Bucer are in 
italics, and those due to Cranmer in parentheses. 

God the Father, of heaven, have mercy upon lis (miserable 
sinners.) 

God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy upon ns 
(miserable sinners.) 

God the Holy Ghost, (proceeding from the Father and the Son,} 
have mercy upon us (miserable sinners.) 

O holy, (blessed, and glorious) Trinity, (three Persons and) one 
God, have mercy upon us (miserable sinners.) 

Remember not, Lord, our offences, nor the offences of our fore- 
fathers; neither take thou vengeance of our sins: spare us (good) 
Lord, spare thy people, whom thou hast redeemed with thy most 
precious blood, and be not angry with us for ever, 
Spare us, (good) Lord. 

From all evil, (and mischief,) from sin, from the crafts (and 
assaults) of the devil; from thy -wrath, (and from everlasting 
damnation,) 

(Good) Lord, deliver us. 



* Compare the Litany of the Anglo-Saxon Church, (Procter, p. 251,) 
the Litany prepared by Bucer for Hermann's Consultation, (Baird's 
Book of Public Prayer, p. 67, 352,) the Roman Litanies, (Miss. Rom. 
&nd Brev. Rom.,) and the Litany in Queen Elizabeth's Poayer-book. 
Several subjects and expression's not found in the Anglo-Sn v on 
Litany are common to both the Koman and the German Litanies, 
from wheuce they passed into Cranmer's English version with 
slight alterations. 



THE REVISED LITANY. 



103 



(From all blindness of heart); from pride, (vain-glory, and hypo* 
Brisy,) from (envy), hatred, and malice, and all uncharitableness, 
(Good) Lord, deliver us. 

From fornication, and all other deadly sin; (and from all the 
deceits of the world, the flesh, and the devil.) 

From lightning and tempest; from plague, pestilence, and famine; 
from battle and murder, and from sudden death. 

(From all sedition, privy conspiracy, and rebellion ; from all false 
doctrine, heresy, and schism; from hardness of heart, and contempt 
of thy Word and Commandment. ) 

By the mystery of thy holy Incarnation ; by thy holy Nativity (and 
Circumcision;) by thy Baptism. Fasting, and Temptation; 

By thine Agony and bloody Sweat; by thy Cross and Passion; by 
thy precious Death and Burial; by thy glorious Resurrection and 
Ascension; and by the coming of the Holy Ghost; 

In all time of our tribulation; in all time of our prosperity ; in the 
hour of death, and in the day of judgment; 

We sinners do beseech thee to hear us, (0 Lord God;) and that it 
may please thee to rule and govern thy holy Church universal (in 
the right way,) 

We beseech thee to hear us, (good Lord.) 

(That it may please thee to illuminate all bishops, pastors, and 
ministers of the Church, with true knowledge and understanding of 
thy Word, and that both by their preaching and living they may 
6et it forth, and show it accordingly ;) 

That it may please thee to bless and keep all thy people; 

That it may please thee to give to all nations unity, peace, and 
Concord ; 

That it may please thee (to give us an heart to love and dread 
thee, and diligently to live after thy commandments;) 

That it may please thee to give to all thy people increase of grace, to 
hear meekly thy Word, and to receive it with pure affection, and to bring 
forth the fruits of the Spirit ; 

That it may please thee to bring into the way of truth, all such as have 
erred, and are deceived; 

That it may please thee to strengthen such as do stand ; and to comfort 
and help the weak-hearted ; and to raise up them that fall; and finally 
to beat down Satan under our feet; 

Tliat it may please thee to succor, help, and comfort, all that are in 
danger, necessity, and tribulation ; 

That it may please thee to preserve (all that travel by land or by 
water,) all ivomen laboring of child, all sick persons, and young chil- 
dren ; and to shoio thy pity upon all prisoners and captives ; 

That it may please thee to defend, and provide for, the fatherless chih 
dren and widows, (and all that are desolate and oppressed;) 

That it may please thee to have mercy upon all men ; 

That it may please thee to forgive our enemies, per secidors, and slan- 
derers, and to turn their hearts ; 

That it may please thee to give and preserve to our use the 
kindly fruits of the earth, (so that in due time we may enjoy 
them ;) 

That it may please thee to give us true repentance; (to forgive us 
all our sins, negligences, and ignorances; and to endue us with the 
grace of thy Holy Spirit to amend our lives according to thy Holy 
Word;) 



104 ANALYSIS OF THE PRAYER-BOOK. 



Son of God, we beseech thee to hear us. 

Lamb of God. who takest away the sins of the world, grant us 
thy peace ; 

Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have 
mercy upon us. 

The result of this comparison will show that while 
the general model of the ancient litanies has been pre- 
served, yet the contents have been materially enlarged 
and modified in each of its particular divisions. 

The Invocations, which form the introductory por- 
tion, and in the old office were a long series of addresses 
to the Virgin, to angels and archangels, patriarchs, 
apostles, martyrs, and confessors, became at the Re- 
formation restricted to the Three Sacred Persons of the 
Trinity ; but their responsive repetition is peculiar to 
the English Litany, as also certain added phrases which 
seem to ensure orthodoxy somewhat at the expense of 
fitness. 

The Deprecations, or petitions for deliverance from 
the various sins, evils, and calamities to which mankind 
are subject, are the ancient series, prefaced with a 
prayer or anthem which occurs in the Breviary between 
the Penitential Psalms and the Litany, and enlarged by 
several Protestant additions. An unprejudiced critic 
might question whether the epithet " good Lord," inter- 
polated by Cranmer, is any improvement upon the 
original, (Libera nos Domine.) But on the other hand, 
it may be doubted whether the proposal of the Presby- 
terians to change the words " sudden death" to " dying 
suddenly and unprepared," although in accordance with 
the original, (a subitanea et improvisa morte,)* is not 
a scruple sufficiently met by the connection in which 
the phrase occurs, and hardly worth the risk of innova- 
tion. 

The Obsecrations, or pleadings for mercy, are a recital 
of the grounds on which the previous deprecations are 
made, or the argument of the suppliant from the merits 
of Christ as illustrated in his whole earthly work and 
mission. They form the most solemn portion of the 
service, and carry in them a tone of all but inspired 



* See Exceptions, Hermann's Litany, and Brev. Rom. Litani*. - 



THE REVISED LITANY. 



105 



pathos and fervor, suited at once to incite and express 
the deepest emotions of awe. penitence, and love. 

The Intercessions, which then follow as a still higher 
act of supplication, are the largest, and by far the most 
Protestant portion of the office. Beginning with a peti- 
tion for the Church universal, they comprise, in a natu- 
ral order, the different classes and conditions, both civil 
and ecclesiastical, for whom public prayer should be 
offered, together with such special mercies and graces 
as are suited to all the common vicissitudes of human 
experience. It would be difficult to imagine any topic 
of ordinary intercession which is not found in this beau- 
tiful summary, and perhaps impossible to improve the 
arrangement. The only changes made are such as 
seem required by our simpler forms of polity; the substi- 
tution of ''Rulers and Magistrates" for "King, Princes, 
Nobles, and Parliament," and of "Pastors and Ministers" 
for "Bishops, Pastors, and Ministers," which latter 
phrase of Cranmer was altered at the last revision to 
"Bishops, Priests, and Deacons," — "an expression," 
says Proctor, "more distinctly opposed to Presbyterian 
notions of the Christian ministry." The corresponding 
suffrage in Hermann's Litany, was, "That it may 
please thee to preserve in soundness of Word and holi- 
ness of life, all Pastors and Ministers of thy Church."* 
We have also added from the same source, a petition for 
the unity of the church and increase of the ministry, 
which seems to be especially required by the present 
state of Christendom and heathendom. 

After the Intercessions, in the Latin office, came the 
Agnus Dei, forming in the English service a fit conclu- 
sion: and as what follows does not seem suited to 
popular worship, at least on ordinary occasions, the 
Rubric suggests discretion in using it, which is also in 
accordance with one of the "Proposals" to the Presby- 
terians in 1668.f 

The Lesser Litany, as the threefold or ninefold invo- 
cations of Christ are called, is the early Greek form, 



♦Compare Hermann's Litany and Liturgy of Evan. Lutheran 
Church, 1860. 
f Calamy, vol i. p. 320, and Prot. Episc. Prayer-book. 



106 ANALYSIS OF THE PRAYER-BOOK. 



and was probably the germ of the Greater Litany, which 
afterwards grew up in the Roman Church. It was 
chaunted responsively in the ancient processions, at the 
beginning, as well as at the end of the Litaneutical 
Service, in connection with Psalmody, and with pauses 
for the Lord's Prayer and the Collects. As here inserted, 
and as viewed apart from the ceremonial in which it 
originated,* it is difficult to see its relevancy, or fitness 
for Protestant worship. This whole added portion, 
indeed, though containing separate versicles of great 
beauty, is confused and fragmentary, owing to the man- 
ner in which it was compiled by Cranmer from different 
parts of the ancient services. The first couplet and 
collect were taken from Bucer's Litany ;f what follows to 
the end of the Gloria Patri, from the choral introduction 
to a Rogation Service; and then are inserted certain 
Versicles designed to be used in time of War (in tempore 
belli.)X Perhaps this latter section may serve to distin- 
guish the discretionary, from the ordinary part of the 
Litany, as a supplement suitable only to occasions of 
public calamity. 

Besides the concluding Prayer of St. Chrysostom, a 
series of Occasional Prayers and Thanksgivings have 
accumulated since the reign of Elizabeth, which, at the 
last revision, were placed under a separate heading, 
and in this edition will be found among the Additional 
Services, noticed in our last section. 

This Litany might be appropriately used either as a 
distinct office, according to its original structure, with 
a selected psalm, lesson, and hymn, or in combination 
with the Daily or Sunday Service, as suggested in the 
different rubrics pertaining to these several offices. 

Sect. VI. The Revised Sunday Service. 
Under both dispensations, the seven-fold division of 
time, founded in natural as well as divine law, has 
generally prevailed for purposes alike of rest and of 
devotion, with the difference only that the Christiac 
Sabbath falls upon the first day of the week instead of 



* See Miss. Rom. Litaniae. 
% Procter, p. 257, 



f Book of Public Prayer, p. 70. 



THE REVISED SUNDAY SERVICE. 



107 



the last. It was called the Lord's day. after the exam- 
ple of St. John, arid perhaps in allusion to our Saviour's 
resurrection upon that day of the week: and it is still 
so called in all ancient liturgies, the English Prayer- 
book having in this respect departed from scriptural 
and catholic usage.* Other things being equal, the 
Dominical or Christian title is certainly preferable, at 
least in a book of devotion, to the pagan name Sun- 
day,] or even to the Jewish name Sabbath; and if we 
have not in all cases adopted this suggestion of the 
Presbyterian Revisers, J it is only because the introduc- 
tion of such a phrase as the LordC s day throughout the 
calendar would now lead to much vague and inelegant 
circumlocution: and a narrow usage and false taste 
have combined to make it impracticable. 

It seems to have been the primitive custom to cele- 
brate the Lord's Supper in connection with the Lord's 
day, as a weekly communion, and the proper culmina- 
tion of every Christian service; and all the ancient 
liturgies are constructed upon this theory. But inas- 
much as modern habits of worship have rendered the 
practice obsolete, and its presumed continuance equivo- 
cal, § and since, moreover, the so-called Ante-Com- 
munion is already practically dissevered from the 
Communion itself by the interposition of collects, 
lessons, and sermons incongruous with it, we have 
placed the anterior portion of the office where alone it 
occurs and belongs, after the Daily Service and before 
the Proper Services with which it is immediately con- 
nected. This simpler and more consecutive arrange- 



* In the Latin offices. Saturdays are called Sabbaths. (Sabbata :) 
Sunday, the Lord's day. (Dominica;) and the Sundays after Triuiry 
are reckoned as the Lord's days after Pentecost, (Dominica post Pen- 
teeosten) — a phraseology which certainly has the merit of ceing 
scriptural. 

f "The retention of the old Pagan name of 'Dies SolisS or "'Sun- 
day,' for the weekly Christian Festival, is. in great measure, 
owing to the union of Pagan and Christian sentiment with which 
the first day of the week was recommended by Constantine to his 
subjects. Pagan and Christian alike, as the ' venerable day of the 
Sun. : ' Stanley's Hist, of Eastern Church, p. 291. 

| Exception XL 

\ Compare Presbyterian Exception, Episcopalian Answer, and 
Presbyterian Rejoinder. Documents, pp. 116, £54, 255. 



108 ANALYSIS OF THE PRAYER-BOOK. 



ment may diminish still more that inconvenience of 
which the Reformers complained in the ancient offices, 
when u the manifold changings of the service was tha 
cause, that to turn the book only was so hard and intri- 
cate a matter, that many times there was more business 
to find out what should be read, than to read it when it 
was found Out,"* and at the same time secure the 
liberty of using the services separately or in combina- 
tion, as taste, prejudice, or custom will dictate. 

The whole Sunday Office may, therefore, be consid- 
ered in three general divisions: 1. The Order for Divine 
Service on the Lord's Day, or the ordinary and fixed 
portions, consisting of the introductory Collect, the 
Lord's Prayer, Commandments, Beatitudes, and Creed. 
2. The Proper Services, or variable portions, consisting 
of the Collects, Epistles, and Gospels proper to the 
different Sundays of the Church-year. 3. The Com- 
munion Service, or Holy Supper to be added to the 
ordinary service as often as parochial authority will 
appoint, f We shall find, as we proceed, that of these 
several parts, the first and third are traceable to primi- 
tive and Presbyterian sources, while the second has 
derived its present form from a Presbyterian revision. 

The first division of the office, what we have termed 
the Order for Divine Service on the Lord's Day, cor- 
responds in its structure and purport to the service of 
Catechumens or Hearers of the Word, preliminary to 
the Eucharist in the primitive Church, and also substan- 
tially agrees with the "Order of Worship," now cus- 
tomary in our churches, its fixed portions serving as 
examples or summaries of the several parts of our 
ordinary service. It is essentially a homiletical office, 
properly culminating in a sermon, and is not necessa- 
rily connected either with the Festival services or with 
the Communion, as it existed long before the church- 
year was matured, and was originally detached from 



* Preface to King Edward's First Prayer-book. 

f An undesigned correspondence may be discerned between those 
several divisions and the. Ordo, Pi^oprium, and Canon of the ancient 
service ; but all the details of the arrangement proceed upon totally 
different principles. 



THE REVISED SUNDAY SERVICE. 



109 



the Lord's Supper, the catechumens or hearers being 
dismissed as soon as the Sacrament began.* It is, in 
fact, the most scriptural, apostolic, catholic, and Pres- 
byterian form which the book contains. 

The Lcetatus Sum, (Ps. 122,) placed before the 
office, was one of the fifteen '-Songs of Degrees" 
sung while ascending the steps of the ancient temple to 
engage in the public service. It is given as an example 
of an introductory chant, corresponding to the Introit 
in the Latin office, or to the selected Metrical Psalm 
in the modern office. It might take the place of the 
choir Voluntary, becoming so customary in our churches. 
The English usage was derived from Geneva, though at 
first it seems to have been a crude addition to the 
established service rather than an integral part of it.f 
Were the prose psalmody substituted for the metrical, 
and the chant selected always of an introductory tenor, 
a prelude suited to compose the mind according to the 
nature of the occasion, the fitness and advantage of this 
initial act of praise would become much more obvious. 

The Collect for Purity, with which the office properly 
begins, was one of the preparatory prayers used in the 
ancient service, and corresponds in position and import 
to the introductory petition or "Invocation" prescribed 
by the Directory.! Such a solemn appeal to the great 
Searcher of hearts for grace and aid, on entering his 
presence and engaging in his service, will be the spon- 
taneous impulse of every true worshipper. 

The Lord's Prayer, which immediately follows, is 
placed after rather than before the preparatory petition, 
in accordance with the most catholic as well as Presby- 
terian usage, and also because it is then more likely to 
be used by the congregation "with understanding, 
faith, reverence, and other graces necessary to the 
right performance of the duty of prayer. "| 

The Commandments are not found in King Edward's 



* See Bnnsen's Hippolytus and his Age. vol. ii. The Church anci 
House-book of the Ancient Christians, pp. 47, 43. Xeander's Church 
History, vol. i. pp. 305. 327, 323. 

I Proctor, pp. 59, 175; Eutaxia. p. 126. 
Chap^. . I Larger Catechism, Q. 187, 



110 ANALYSIS OF THE PRAYER-BOOK. 



First Book, which, at this point, in common with th€ 
old office, has the Lesser Litany, or Kyrie eleison, to be 
said or sung nine times: 

i i i . Lord, have mercy upon us. 
i i i . Christ, have mercy upon us. 
i i i . Lord, have mercy upon us. 

At the Calvinistic revision, these responses seem to 
have been retained, but with the insertion of a com- 
mandment before each of them, and the addition to 
each of the further petition, 4 'and incline our hearts to 
keep this law," and also of the summary prayer at the 
close, "and write all these laws in our hearts, we 
beseech thee." Such a use of the Decalogue in public 
worship, though common to all the Presbyterian litur- 
gies, had been hitherto unknown in the medieval offices 
with which it is plainly out of keeping, and it is known 
to have been borrowed from the Lord's Day Service of 
Pollanus, from which also was taken the concluding 
petition.* The same feeling which prompted the peni- 
tential introduction to the Daily Prayer would seem 
also to have suggested this addition, and its fitness, 
especially when the Communion is to follow, must be 
obvious. The approved translation has been used in com- 
pliance with the Presbyterian Exceptions; and although, 
for the same reason, the kneeling posture and audible 
responses are not enjoined or even suggested, yet it 
may be doubted whether one should listen to the Read- 
ing of the Law as to any ordinary lesson of Scripture, 
or if its due effect, as the instrument of conviction, is 
not to bring both mind and body into a lowly attitude. 

After the commandments, in the English edition, 
came two Collects for the King, in place of which the 
American Episcopalian edition has, very appropriately, 
our Lord's Summary of the Law and the Prophets, together 
with a suitable Collect — an idea which was also suggested 
by the Presbyterian revisers, and had already been illus- 
trated in the liturgy of Pollanus. f Such an epitome of 



* Compare King Edward's First and Second Prayer-hooks and 
Pollanus' Liturgia Peregrinorum. 

f The Collect is the second at the end of the Communion. The 
following is the Petition in Pollanus' Liturgy: "Jtomiw Deus, 



THE REVISED SUNDAY SERVICE. Ill 



the Old Testament, in the words of its Divine Ex- 
pounder, serves to mark the transition to the New Tes- 
tament, and to carry forward the worshipper from the 
humbling discipline of the law into the light and 
liberty of the gospel. 

" The Collect, Epistle, and Gospel are the more glad- 
some devotions which then follow, breathing the Chris- 
tian in distinction from the Hebrew spirit. As set forth 
in the ancient offices, they are a series of carefully 
arranged services, epitomizing throughout the year the 
whole New Testament history and doctrine in the words 
of Christ and his apostles, together with appropriate 
petitions hallowed by immemorial usage, and are 
unquestionably suited to train up a far more intelligent- 
type of devotion than that induced by the random use 
of Scripture which prevails in many churches. At the 
same time, it would be only falling into the other 
extreme to be so bound even to this beautiful system as 
to have no discretion when occasions or circumstances 
plainly require different selections. 

The Beatitudes, which are found only in this edition, 
may serve as a summary of the Gospel, corresponding 
to the Commandments as a summary of the Law, the 
posture of penitents and disciples being now changed 
to that of thankful worshippers. They are in keeping 
with the ancient custom, at first retained by the Reform- 
ers, of standing at the reading of the Gospel with the 
joyful ascription, --Glory be to thee, Lord;" and were 
recommended to be placed in this office by the Semi- 
Presbyterian Commission of 1689, as an occasional sub- 
stitute for the Commandments with the response, "Lord, 
have mercy upon us, and make us partakers of this bless- 
ing." They also appear as a permanent Gospel Lesson 
in the Sunday Morning Prayer of King Edward's Primer.* 
But whether used as an ordinary lesson, or as a series 



Pater miserioGn, qui hoc decalogo per serrum tuum Mosen nof 
Legis tua? justitiani docaisti ; dignare eordibus nostris earn ita tuo 
epiritu inscnbere. ut nequicquam deinceps in vita migis optemus, 
aut velimus. quam tibi obedientia <Stti5uaiati<siina placere in cmnk 
bus, per Jesum Christum filium tuum. Amen*" 
• Compare Prater, p. 151. 



112 ANALYSIS OF THE PRAYER-KOOK. 



of solemn benedictions, they cannot fail to meet with a 
response in every Christian heart. 

The Gloria in Excelsis Deo, whiich. next follows, was 
transferred at the Calvinistic revision of King Edward's 
First Book from the beginning to the close of the office* 
and there placed as a post- communion doxology. It 
would, however, occur too seldom if confined to that 
position, and seems to follow naturally, in our arrange- 
ment, as an exalted act of praise for the blessings of the 
gospel already felt, or yet to be fully experienced by 
the beatified believer. The hymn itself is one of the 
earliest hymns of the Eastern Church, and is supposed 
to have been founded upon the angelic song at the birth 
of the Saviour. The spirit of that divine original seems 
indeed to linger in its sublime words, lifting the soul 
beyond the sins and sorrows of life, and bearing it away 
into a region of heavenly purity and peace. 

The Nicene Creed, also a product of the Eastern 
Church, may appropriately take the place of the Apos- 
tles' Creed on communion-days, as being that more pre- 
cise and full confession of faith proper to a service in 
which the "hearer" is supposed to have become a 
"believer," and the catechumen trained into a communi- 
cant. Born in the great Council of Nicsea, as the fruit 
of the assembled wisdom of the Church, in an age when 
doctrinal truth was prized above every worldly interest, 
it remains among us to this day the most ancient, ' ortho- 
dox, and catholic symbol in Christendom, and may more 
perfectly realize the Communion of Saints on earth than 
any other uninspired words that could now be recited 
in a Christian assembly. 

When Morning Prayer is offered immediately before 
and in connection with this office, the Creed will of 
course be omitted, and the Sermon will follow the 
Gloria in Excelsis, or such other hymn as may have been 
appointed by the minister. But otherwise, in order to 
render the service complete, the Litany will here be 
used, followed by the Hymn. Announcements, and Col- 
lection. 

The Collect before Sermon^ is taken from the ancient 
form customary at the reading of the Gospel, and 
expresses & petitiwa wlrieh, whether offered privately bj 



THE REVISED SUNDAY SERVICE. 113 



the preacher alone, or silently by preacher and hearer 
together, is always felt to be suitable to the parties at 
that juncture. 

The Sermon itself has ever been the great central 
feature of primitive and Protestant worship, and still 
serves to distinguish the evangelizing from the mere 
ritualistic type of Christianity. The Directory, espe- 
cially the "Westminster edition, is careful to exalt this 
function of the Christian ministry, and insists upon a 
preacher "presupposed to be versed in the whole body 
of theology, but most of all in the Holy Scriptures, and 
to have skill in the original languages, and in such arts 
and sciences as are handmaids unto divinity.' s Viewed 
in a liturgical light the Sermon grows naturally cut of 
the Epistle and Gospel, which may either suggest the 
theme,* or be themselves selected with reference to it, 
when the occasion is extraordinary, or the minister's 
taste and judgment shall dictate some different routine 
of topics. 

The Collect after Sermon is an early English form 
composed by the reformers, and answers to a rule in the 
Directory as well as to a common feeling that prayer is 
needed not only for "the sound preaching and con- 
scionable hearing of the Word," but also that we may 
become doers thereof. To further which ends more 
particular petitions "in relation to the subject treated 
of in the discourse" will be offered by every workman 
who rightly divides the Word of truth, f 

The Collects, Ascriptions, and Benedictions, added for 
discretionary use, may serve as examples of different 
modes of ending the last prayer or of closing the whole 
service. They are taken from the Scriptures and from 
the Ancient liturgies, except the first Collect, which is 
due to the Proposals of 1689.+ 

In using this Order of Service, it is obvious that 
much will depend upon the manner in which its variable 
portions are arranged from Sunday to Sunday; and to 
a consideration of this question our second general 
division is devoted. 



* £ee ab^ve. chap. iv. f Direct., chap. v. 

J See Revised Collects? in Book of Pub. Prayer. It appears also in 
the Institution Office. Prot. Epiec. Prayer-book. 
B 



114 ANALYSIS OF THE PRAYER-BOOK. 



Sect. VII. The Revised Proper Services, 
It is the doctrine of our standards that there is no 
day commanded to be kept holy under the Gospel, except 
the Lord's Day ; but as it is not enjoined so neither is 
it forbidden to have a yearly course of Services for the 
observance and improvement of that day; nor can there 
be any sound objection to such an arrangement, but 
rather much to recommend it, if only it proceed upon 
some scriptural and rational principle, be not imposed 
upon the conscience, and be in accordance with the 
purest and most catholic usage. Besides the good 
accruing to the Church at large by thus promoting in a 
practical form the Communion of Saints there will be 
yielded in each congregation those two essentials of 
fresh devotion and effective preaching, an occasion for 
the hearer and a theme for the speaker, and the conse- 
quent means of celebrating the Lord's days throughout 
the year with greater profit and solemnity. 

Now, it is undeniable that the elements of such a 
system originated in the Church of the Apostles and 
were retained in greater or less perfection by all the 
Reformed Churches, except the Church of Scotland 
during its later history and the Church of England during 
the time when the Presbyterian framers of our standards 
were in league with the Covenanters and Independents. 
As soon as they were released from that political com- 
pact they returned to a more scriptural stand point, and 
according to Apostolic teaching and example, would 
have allowed a voluntury observance of such Dominical 
or Christian festivals as breathe the spirit of the Lord's 
day, and are, in most cases, actually blended with it.* 

On the other hand, however, it must also be granted 
that this primitive calendar, having originated in a rude 
age of the world, has grown up in defiance of all accu- 



* Compare Neander's Hist, of Christian Rel. and Church, vol. i. 
p. 295; SchafTs History of the Apostolic Church, p. 557; Eutaxia. 
p. 28. Presbyterian Exceptions and Rejoinder, and the Epistle of St. 
Paul to the Romans, chap, xiv 

It is to be observed that the Appendix to the Westminster Directory 
against Holy Days and Festivals was expunged from our edition a* 
the revision by the General Assembly. 



THE REVISED PROPER SERVICES. 115 



rate chronology and history, and for centuries has been 
steadily supplanted by the modern civil calendar, until 
now it remains only as a mass of ingenious anachron- 
isms. And it may be questioned whether, in the New 
World, the sentimental advantage of keeping it in con- 
cert with the churches which adhere to it in the Old 
World, is to be weighed against its practical inconven- 
ience and absurdity, when that nest of chronic puzzles 
which prefaces the Prayer-book could be reduced to 
a single Table, and the principle of the whole still 
retained, by so simple a change as that of fixing Easter 
for the first or second Sunday in April. * 

Easter-day, which at first fell upon a week-day, 
until by a decree of the Council of Nicrea it was made 
to fall upon a Sunday, grew out of the Jewish year as 
a Christian Passover, in the same manner that the 
Lord's day grew out of the Jewish week as a Christian 
Sabbath, the one being an annual and the other a 
weekly observance of his resurrection. It forms the 
epoch from which the whole Christian year dates, the 
seasons before it being mainly devoted to a rehearsal of 
Christ's life and passion, and those following it, to a 
rehearsal of his example and doctrine. 

Advent, Epiphany and Lent, are the seasons observed 
in approaching Easter from about the beginning of De- 
cember until about the beginning of April, and the 
Lord's days during that period may commemorate his 
Incarnation, Nativity, Circumcision, Baptism, Tempta- 
tion, Agony, Crucifixion, and Burial. Ascension, Whit- 
sunday or Pentecost and Trinity, are the seasons o>served 
in leaving Easter, from about the first of April until 
about the beginning of December, and the Lord's day3 
during that period may commemorate his Resurrection, 
his Glorification with the Father, his Senaing the Holy 



* "There is one point in regard to the settlement of the Paschal 
question, which seemi entirely to have escaped the N T icene Fathers, 
but whi.'.h. probably, owinz to their want of foresight, will, with 
each succeeding century, widen the divergence . between civil 
and ecclesiastical usages. How many collisions a^d complications 
might have been avoided, had Easter been then,, once for all. mad* 
a fixed, instead of a movable, festival!" Stanley's Eastern Churchy 
p. 2G3. 



116 ANALYSIS OP THE PRAYER-BOOK. 



Ghost, and all the peculiar lessons of the New Tes« 
tament. 

The devout recognition, with appropriate services, of 
the week-days commonly called Christmas- day, Good- 
Friday, and Ascension-day, is in accordance with Pres- 
byterian and catholic usage ; but the observation of 
Lent as a religious fast was objected to by the Presby- 
terians, ' 'the example of Christ fasting forty days and 
nights being no more imitable nor intended for the imi- 
tation of a Christian, than any other of his miraculous 
works." 

In compliance with the same authority the Proper 
Services appointed for Saints' days have been expunged, 
and the names of any Apostles and Evangelists left in 
the calendar are there simply for the preservation of 
their memories and other useful purposes. 

The Proper Services which are retained are only 
such as appertain to the strictly Dominical festivals in 
honor of our Lord and in connection with his own Holy 
Day, and their addition to the ordinary service is left 
wholly discretionary. In the Latin Church they con- 
sisted of a number of intricate parts adjusted to the 
minute ritual which had overgrown the primitive order, 
such as the Introits, Graduals, Tracts, Gospels, Col- 
lects, Epistles, besides the On°ertories, Secreta, Prefaces, 
Communions, and Post-communions connected with the 
celebration of the Lord's Supper. Of these none have 
been retained in the English Prayer-book but the Col- 
lects. Epistles and Gospels, which are really the most 
ancient portions, are in nowise inconsistent with the 
simple usages of Protestant worship, and owe the 
improved form in which they now appear to the Pres- 
byterian revisionists. 

The Colled for the Day is a brief petition collecting in 
a single sentence the devotional feeling proper to the fes- 
tival to which it refers, or to the Gospel or Epistle with 
which it is connected. Many of the collects date from 
a very remote period, and are of great force and beauty 
as well in the original Latin as in the pure English in 
which they have come down to us. Some verbal errors 
in them were corrected at the instance of the Pres- 



THE REVISED PROPER SERVICES. 117 



byterian Commissioners,* and a thorough revision of 
them was afterwards attempted by the Episcopalian Com- 
missioners of 1689, on the principle of adapting them 
more closely to the Epistles and Gospels, and vith the 
view of expressing more clearly the evangelical senti- 
ment of their Presbyterian associates. As an attempt 
to remedy the vagueness and generality which mark a 
number of them, especially those for the Sundays after 
Trinity, the proposed amendments are praiseworthy; 
but in most cases they mar the ancient model without 
at the same time sufficiently gaining the object ia 
view. 

The Epistle and Gospel for the Day express in a more 
didactic form the sense of the cellect, and are designed 
to inculcate the lessons proper to the occasion or festi- 
val to which they belong. They were rendered in the 
approved translation in accordance with the Presbyte- 
rian revision, and have been retained without alteration, 
Their antiquity and general fitness make them prefera- 
ble to any new selections, and they are useful for devo- 
tional reading at other times. 

Besides these ancient Proper services, the new fea- 
tures which have arisen in the modern office may be 
adapted to the church-year together with the sermon. 

The Introductory Psalm, instead of being appointed 
at random, or as a mere general prelude, might be 
suited to the ecclesiastical season on the principle of the 
Introit retained in King Edward's First Prayer-book. 
Such a re-adjustment of the Psalter would serve to 
Christianize it, and to bring it more intelligently into 
divine worship; and if the whole Psalm were not in 
every instance relevant, the fit verses only might be 
used, or, what is better, Canticles formed out of differ- 
ent verses compiled from any of the poetical portions 
of the Scriptures. The Table of Proper Psalms, added 
as a help in making such selections, has been taken 



* Compare the Presbyterian Exceptions to " the two Collects for 
St. John's day, and Innocent's, for the first day in Lent, for the 
fourth Sunday after Easter, for Trinity Sunday, for the sixth and 
twelfth Sunday after Trinity, for St. Luke's day, and Michaelmas 
day," with the sa«ae in the English Prayer-book. 



118 ANALYSIS OP THE PRAYER-BOOK. 



partly from the ancient offices and partly from various 
modern liturgies.* 

An arrangement of Hymns on the same principle 
Still further ensures unity and beauty to these commem- 
morative services. 

Even a corrse of Sermons or Homilies, well selected 
from approved divines, and adapted to the lessons of 
the yearly course, though it would be too unwieldy to 
form part of a public liturgy, might be an advantage in 
the cas? of such worshippers as are deprived of a stated 
ministry, f 

According to the theory already advocated, the Proper 
services are suitable tc the Sunday, rather than to the 
Daily, office; but there may be seasons or circumstances 
in which both offices can be conveniently and profitably 
used ; and the Table of Proper Lessons to be read at 
Morning and Evening Prayer will afford the means of 
substituting suitable selections in place of those of the 
Daily course. 

Sect. VIII. The Revised Communion Service, 

We next approach the most sacred portion of the 
office, or indeed of the whole book, and that for which 
the other services are but a preliminary training, lead- 
ing to it as to the very crown and complement of all 
Christian worship, the "holy of holies" in the Church- 
service. 

The Lord's Supper grew out of the Paschal Supper, 
with a change of symbols, the broken bread being'used 
in place of the slain lamb to express and convey the 
benefits of Christ's sacrifice, and a Table substituted 
for the Altar, as the social feature of the rite. In the 
early Church it was unquestionably observed in the 
simplest manner as a spiritual service of Thanksgiving 
and Communion; ' but in process of time it became, in 
the Latin Church, the elaborate ritual called the Mass, 
And so continued until the Reformation, when the 



* Compare King Edward's First Prayer-book, the Evangelical 
Lutheran Liturgy, and Liturgise Resusse Exemplar, 
t Confession of Faith, p. 4=52. 



THE REVISED COMMUNION SERVICE. 119 



Protestant churches, with greater or less approxima- 
tion, returned to the simplicity of the primitive insti- 
tution. 

The Order for the Administration of the Lord's Supper 
or Holy Communion, as amended by the Savoy Presby- 
terians, will be found, when historically traced and 
analyzed, substantially to contain: 1. The "Lord's 
Supper" of the Apostolical Church ; 2. The " Eucha- 
rist" of the Primitive Church; 3. The earliest English 
Protestant "Order of Communion;"* 4. The Calvin- 
istic "Form of Celebrating the Lord's Supper;" 5. The 
Westminster and American Directory for "Administra- 
tion of the Lord's Supper." And it is believed that, as 
here presented, it retains every thing essential to either 
of these formularies, and nothing inconsistent with 
any of them. 

The office may be conveniently considered in three 
parts: 1. The Ante-Communion, consisting of the Col- 
lection, the Prayer for the Church Militant, Exhorta- 
tions, Words of Institution, Admonition and Invitation, 
Confession, Absolution, and Prayer of Humble Access ; 
2. The Communion, consisting of the Versicles, the 
Tersanctus, the Prayer of Consecration, the Ministra- 
tion and Communion of the Bread and Wine; 3. The 
Post-Communion, consisting of the Thanksgiving, the 
Closing Hymn, and Benediction. We shall find that, 
while the first and last portions are essentially Protest- 
ant in their origin and structure, the intermediate 
portion retains all of the primitive and catholic service 
which is consistent with the Scriptures and with our 
own standards. ■ 

What we have termed the Ante-Communion portion 
is a series of preparatory and preliminary services 
through which the communicant passes, by natural 



* This formulary, which was issued and in use some mouths in 
advance of the Praver-book, was substantially taken by the English 
Reformers from the Reformed Service of Buc^r and Melancthon, 
and was also immediately translated and submitted by Coverdale tc 
the examination of Calvin, who does not seem to have disapproved 
of it. It may be found in the " Liturgies of King Edward VI.; 
Parker Society." See also Coverdale's Letters to Calvin; Original 
Letters, First Series, p. 31. 



120 ANALYSIS OF THE PRAYER-BOOK. 



Advances of feeling, to the solemn acts of participation 
in the Communion itself. They are not found in the 
ancient office, but were affixed to it before it was trans- 
lated and popularized, very much as the introductory 
portion of the Daily Prayer was prefixed to the ancient 
part of that office. As first used, indeed, they formed 
a distinct English Communion of the laity, ensuing 
upon the Latin Mass performed by the clergy, until 
the Prayer-book was compiled about a year afterwards, 
when they lost their provisional character, and became 
blended in a somewhat confused manner with certain 
translated portions of the old office.* They are here 
preserved, with but one or two additions, in the exact 
order in which they were first used, that they may 
serve the purpose to which they are so beautifully 
adapted, of inducing charity, penitence, assurance, and 
humility in the expecting communicant. 

The Rubrics, introductory and concluding, are liter- 
ally quoted from the Directory, and also those through- 
out the office, as far as practicable. 

The Exhortations proceed upon the principle of the 
Apostolic Exhortation, "Let a man examine himself, 
and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup," 
and answer to the Preparatory Lecture prescribed by 
the Directory, and customary in Presbyterian churches. 
They might serve as samples upon which to model such 
addresses, or be used as stated forms according to the 
custom of some Calvinistic liturgies. The second Ex- 
hortation is attributed to Peter Martyr. The other two 
appear first in the ' ' Order of Communion," but re-appear 
also in Knox's "Book of Common Order," and are 
thoroughly Calvinistic in tone and structure. They 
owe their '^tsent arrangement to the Presbyterian 



* In the Prayer-book of 1549, the " Order of Communion" appears 
at the end of the old office unmutilated ; but in 1552 it w«s prefixed 
to that office, with the exception of the Prayer of Humble Access," 
which was inserted between the Tersanctus and the Consecration 
Prayer. At the same time certain portions of the latter prayer were 
Sundered from it, and placed apart at the very extremes of the 
office, where they form respectively the " Prayer for the Church 
Militant" and the " Post-Communion Thanksgiving." See the " Lit- 
urgies of King Edward," Parker Society; and also a comparative 
view in Chevalier Bunsen's Hippolytus, vol. ii. p* 173 — 204. 



THE REVISED COMMUNION SERVICE. 121 



Exceptions, as also an added clause for the comfort of 
doubting Christians, taken from the Larger Catechism. 

The Collection for the Poor and other Pious Purposes, 
placed next before the office, to be used in connection 
"with it, or as a distinct act of worship, corresponds to 
the Oblation in the Eucharist, and to the Offertory in the 
Latin and English service. It seems at first to have 
consisted of contributions to the Agapae or Love-Feast, 
or of gifts for the support of the ministry and the poor; 
but the multiplied objects of modern charity have dis- 
connected it from the Sacrament which it might other- 
wise so fittingly precede, and rendered it scarcely more, 
sometimes less, than an ordinary part of divine service. 
For this reason, other Scripture sentences of various 
import have been added; and in compliance with the 
Presbyterian Exceptions the Apocryphal selections have 
been expunged. 

The Prayer for the Church Militant is also not neces- 
sarily connected with the Communion, but may appro- 
priately take the place of the ordinary prayer after 
sermon, and serve to extend the feeling of charity, 
expressed in the Collection, from the particular assem- 
bly of communicants to the whole Church universal 
into spiritual communion with which they are about to 
enter. Such a usage was common in the primitive 
Eucharist, and the form itself is very ancient, though 
in its structure and in certain expressions it resembles 
a prayer with the same title in Knox's Book of Common 
Order. 

The Words of Institution are inserted in compliance 
with the Directory, and serve both as a warrant and a 
lesson to insure the intelligent reception of the Sacra- 
ment, especially when explained after the manner of 
the Exhortation following them. They form that por- 
tion of the rite which our Saviour himself dictated, and 
are afterwards repeated by the minister, while giving 
the elements, "in accordance with his example, institu- 
tion, and command," as a declaration to the people, 
rather than as part of the consecrating prayer; the 
latter usage seeming to carry in it a notion of some 
transubstantiative effect upon the bread and wine to 
Which the words refer. 



122 ANALYSIS OF THE PRAYER-BOOK. 



The Admonition and Invitation have their warrant in 
the Apostolic Epistles and in the Directory, and owe 
their form to the "Order of Communion." They also 
correspond to the primitive usage of dismissing the 
catechumens and separating the communicants at the 
close of the ordinary service, with such exclamations 
as "No Profane!" "Let none depart entitled to stay!" 
and are designed at once to guard the Sacrament from 
an injurious effect upon "the profane, the ignorant, and 
the scandalous," and to encourage the timid, penitent, 
and believing in their advances. 

The Confession is from the same source, somewhat 
abbreviated in form, and with an added clause from the 
Calvinistic Confession of Pollanus.* As a preliminary 
act in coming to the Communion, it is common to all 
liturgies, and dictated by universal Christian feeling. 
No language could be more deeply penitential, or more 
fittingly express the pungent convictions and fervid 
supplications with which the worthy communicant 
approaches the Sacrament. 

The Prayer for Absolution, which then immediately 
follows, is a Protestant version of the old form, and 
suitably differs from that in the Daily service, by being 
precatory rather than declaratory in style. It is also 
appropriately followed by the more scriptural though 
less liturgical expression of the same sentiment, the 
Comfortable Words, proceeding on the Calvinistic prin- 
ciple of "raising sinners to the hopes of pardon" after 
confession, and also of reciting the revealed grounds 
upon which that pardon is sought, declared, and 
granted. 

The Prayer of Humble Access is an entirely Protestant 
form, which was composed by the English Reformers 
for the "Order of Communion," and breathes the 
deeply religious spirit of the age in which it was pro- 
duced. In the Prayer-book it became transferred to a 
later stage of the service, where it only breaks the con- 
tinuity of feeling; but as first used, and here preserved 
in its original connection, it collects the feelings of min- 
gled humility and assurance, resulting from the Confes* 
sion and Absolution preceding it, and prepares the 



* Procter, p. 346. 



THE REVISED COMMUNION SERVICE. 123 



suppliant for the more joyous devotions of the Eucha- 
rist then to follow.* 

At this point we enter upon our second general 
division, which we have termed the Communion itself, 
and which is the most primitive and apostolic portion 
of the office, having been largely in use in the primitive 
Church, as well as in the modern Calvinistic liturgies. 

The Versicle* with which it begins, may mark the 
transition from the one portion to the other, with a 
befitting change of tone and posture, and also them- 
selves appropriately herald the Thanksgiving. Espe- 
pecially the Sursum Cordaf ("Lift up your hearts") was 
used in the early Christian assemblies as a warning to 
the worshipper to assume the devotional intention 
proper at this juncture; and the other responses, fol- 
lowing between the minister and the communicant, may 
further serve to stir up and provoke an attentive mood 
and solemn expectancy as the critical part of the service 
approaches. 

The Preface, which then introduces the acts of Thanks- 
giving and Praise, bears traces of the more liturgical 
style of a later age, when the free usages of primitive 
worship had begun to harden into a ritual. It varied, 
in the Latin office, with the recurring festivals of the 
Church year, and was designed to present the event or 
doctrine celebrated in each as the special ground of the 
following thanksgiving. Of these Proper Prefaces, 
only the five relating to the Nativity, Resurrection, and 
Ascension of Christ, the Mission of the Holy Ghost, and 
the Trinity, were retained in the English office. This ia 
certainly, as far as it goes, an improvement. To cele- 
brate the Lord's Supper in commemoration of an apo3- 
tie. saint, or martyr, is a, manifest perversion; but it ia 
still doubtful whether even such an event as the Birth 
or Ascension of Christ is entirely congruous with a rite 



* The last clause ia amended in a-^orclance with the Presbyterian 
Exceptions. Compare u ,s>so with "Order of Communion" and 
iirst and Second Prayer books of Edward VI. Parker Society 
edition. 

f See Presbyterian Rejoinder. Document*, p. 210; l< Apostolical 
Constitutions ""' : d Bunsen's Hippolytus, vol. ii. p. 4S: and Polianu^ 
Lituivia Peregrinorum. 



124 ANALYSIS OF THE PRAYER-BOOK. 



expressly framed to symbolize his death and convey the 
benefits of his passion. Moreover, the interjection of 
such foreign ideas at this moment can only tend to 
interrupt the flow of devotion toward the Sacrament, 
and confuse the grateful feeling proper to it. We have 
therefore retained but a single Preface, setting forth 
the burden of the Eucharist itself, the great sacrifice 
of Christ upon the Cross, as the theme of exultant 
praise in receiving it. The language used for this pur- 
pose is taken from another portion of the office where it 
seems to occur less appropriately than in this connec- 
tion.* 

The TersanctuSj or Trisagion, so called from its 
threefold ascription of the word Holy, then follows in 
fulfilment of the Preface, as an exalted act of adoration 
and gratitude, lifting the worshipper into communion 
with the whole heavenly host, as if in anticipation of 
that glorious realization of the Eucharistic symbol, 
when the Lamb, appearing as it had been slain, becomes 
the centre of universal praise. This sublime hymn 
seems to have derived its theme from the seraphic 
vision in Isaiah, and has been in use in the Christian 
Church, as part of this service, from the most primitive 
times, f 

The Prayer of Consecration is designed, in accordance 
with the Directory, to "set apart the elements from 
common use," by charging them with their appointed 
significance as emblems and pledges of that broken 
body and shed blood of Christ which they exhibit, by 
invoking the Holy Spirit to render them cleans of 
spiritual nourishment, and by imploring those inward 
graces necessary to their worthy reception. The lan- 
guage of the form is derived from very ancient sources, 
so anended by the English Reformers as to exclude all 
ideas of transubstantiation in the elements themselves, 
and with an added clause from the Westminster Cate- 
chism, expressing their effect in the believing recipient. 
The petition for the consecrating or blessing the ele- 



* Compare Prefaces in Miss. Rom. and in English Prayer-booi 
With this edition, 
f See the Primitive Eucharist in Bunsen, p. 49. 



THE REVISED COMMUNION SERVICE. 125 



ments, "with the Word and Holy Spirit," is taken from 
King Edward's Prayer-book, and is an addition suggested 
by the Presbyterians, and in accordance with the doc- 
trine of our standards.* 

The Breaking of the Bread is a ceremony which be- 
longed to the rite as instituted by Christ and described 
by the apostles, which was common in the primitive and 
reformed liturgies, which is required by the Directory, 
and in accordance with ':he Presbyterian Exceptions, 
and which itself enters into the symbolical structure of 
the Sacrament by representing the breaking of Christ's 
body for us, and our communion with him and with one 
another as his members. f 

The Administration of the Elements is prescribed 
according to the rules in the Directory, and is designed 
to be a devout repetition, as near as may be, of the origi- 
nal scene of the Lord's Supper: the Minister standing 
at a table rather than at an altar, and the communi- 
cants being assembled around or before it, while he 
gives them the sacred emblems in the name and with 
the words of Christ. J 

The Sentences of Scripture to be pronounced, during 
the distribution of each element, and the rubric explain- 
ing their use, are from the Ca4vinistic and Knoxian 
liturgies, and allowable according to the Directory, 
which prescribes no form of words for ''putting the 
communicants in mind of the grace signified by the 
Sacrament." Such inspired declarations, aptly chosen, 



* Confession of Faith, chap, xxix.: Larger Catechism, Q. 16?, 170 : 
Early Prayer-books and Presbyterian Exceptions, 
f Hodge's Outlines of Theology, p. 505. 

j In the Liturgy of Pollanus. the words used were. " Panis quern 
frangimus communicatio est corporis Christi: accipite. comedite 
memores corpus Christi pro vobis es?e fractum. Calix benedictionis 
cui benedicimus communicatio est sanguinis Christi. qui pro vobia 
est fusus in femissionem pecatorum" — a form compiled from the 
different Scriptures relating to the Sacrament. The Westminster 
Directory has the following: "According to the holy institution, 
command, and example of our blessed Saviour Jesus Christ. I take 
this bread., and baring given thanks, break it. and give it unto you. 
(There the minister, who is also himself to communicate, is to break 
the bread, and give it to the communicants:) Tale ye, eat ye ; this is 
the body of Christ which is broken for you: do this in remtmbranoi 
of him/' 



126 ANALYSTS OF THE PRAYER-BOOK. 



would seem to be preferable either to the repetition of 
the same formula to each communicant, or to the loose 
harangues to the whole assembly, which sometimes mar 
the service. It is a time when the simple Word of Go& 
will prove a better help to devotion than any words of 
man, uttered with rhetorical propriety, or in strained 
exhortation; and the practice has been found as accept- 
able as it is profitable.* 

The Silent Prayer, after receiving the elements, is a 
primitive and catholic usage, would seem to be dictated 
by a spontaneous feeling, and has, besides, the inci- 
dental advantage of affording the minister as well as 
the communicant an interval for secret devotion. 

The third and concluding portion of the office, termed 
the Post-Communion, is a brief series of services suited 
to incite and express the sentiments proper to the com- 
municant on leaving the Lord's Table. Like the Ante- 
Communion or Preparatory Lecture, it is sometimes 
reserved as a separate service in the after part of the 
day, with a sermon or exhortation, designed to express 
the thankful feeling of the communicants, or to admon- 
ish them to walk worthy of their vocation as Christ's 
followers. As here arranged, it forms a fitting conclu- 
sion to the office, and is more in accordance with the 
Directory than a distinct service after the first glow of 
the sacramental devotion has faded. 

The Scripture Sentences after Communion are taken in 
part from King Edward's Prayer-book, and may appro- 
priately mark the transition to this portion of the office 
by expressing, according to the selection used, the feel- 
ings which will spontaneously arise at the moment. 

The Thanksgiving after Communion is an act of devo- 
tion prescribed by the Directory, and common in all 
Presbyterian liturgies. The first of the two examples 
given formed the conclusion of the Consecration Prayer 
in 1549; but at the Caivinistic revision in 1552 it was 
transferred to its present position,* where alone it is 



* Eutaxia, p. 56. Book of Public Prayer. Book of Common Order. 
Liturgies of German Reformed Church and Evangelical Lutheran 
Church. 

* In the American Episcopal edition it is transferred hack again 
to the Consecration Prayer, where it appears in connection with cer 



•THE REVISED COMMUNION SERVICE. 12? 



fittingly offered, and where, moreover, it no longer 
Implies a material oblation of the elerneots, but a spirit- 
ual oblation raa«i? by the communicants of their own 
persons, with praise and thanksgiving, in the language 
of St. Paul's exhortation to "presentour bodies a living 
Bacrifice, holy, acceptable to Cod, as cur reasonable 
service." Such an act of grateful personal dedication 
of himself to Christ vrill be a spontaneous impulse of 
the communicant at this juncture, and could scarcely be 
expressed in more scriptural terms. The second exam- 
ple is also a strictly Protestant form, composed by the 
Calvinistic Reformers, and may serve to vary the feeling 
resulting from the Sacrament by expressing more the 
feeling of praise in connection with prayer for self- 
consecration. If the Lord's Prayer has not been used 
in the preceding service, it will be in accordance with 
liturgical law and usage to offer it also with the Thanks- 
giving. 

The Hymn and Dozology will express, in still more 
joyous form, this thankfulness, and conclude the office 
as our Lord and his apostles concluded it. when they 
"sang an hymn ani went out Into the Mount of Olives." 
The "Gloria in Excelsis," or Greater Doxology, is pre- 
scribed in late editions; but the "Song of Simeon," 
"Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace," 
was in universal use at the close of the Calvinistic lit- 
urgy, and beautifully connects together ideas of the 
earthly and the heavenly Communion at the moment of 
dismissing the communicants. "They can rise no higher 
in this life. There is nothing beyond but heaven. Their 
longings find fit expression in the Nunc Dimitiis.' > '\ 

The Blessing follows in accordance with catholic 
usage. The form, compiled by Bueer, is here given in 
other editions, but in this is placed for ordinary use 
among the forms at the close of the Sunday service. 
The benediction, inserted in place of it. is taken from 



tain other expressions taken f r •: ni the Scottish Prayer-book of Laud. 
*The result of the patch-work/-* says Bunsen. -is (with a little 
grsinmati al inaccuracy) the following remarkable prayer/' (Then 
follows the prayer as found in the Prayer-book of the Protectant 
Episcopal Church.) Vol. ii. p. 19S. 
f Eutaxia, p. -i6.' Preface to Lutheran Licurgy, 



128 ANALYSIS OF THE PRAYER-BOOK. 



the Directory, and besides being in the very words of 
Scripture, has the advantage of rising into a solemn 
doxology of both minister and people at the close. 

Sect. IX. The Revised Baptismal Services. 

The Baptismal offices form a class of initiatory rites 
and services by means of which the children of the 
Church and converts from the world may be personally 
trained for the communion of the faithful. As here 
arranged, they contain the Directory inserted as liter- 
ally as possible in place of the English Rubric, and will 
be found to be substantially in agreement with primi- 
tive and Presbyterian usage. 

The Order of Baptism of Infants is simply our Bap- 
tismal Directory interwoven with appropriate forms or 
examples of each part of the service, originally derived 
in part from the ancient office, and in part from the 
formulary of Bucer and Melancthon, and afterwards 
subjected at first to the Calvinistic revision of 1552, and 
finally to the Presbyterian revision of 1661. The effect 
of these emendations has been, 1. The abolition of the 
office of Sponsors or Pro-parents, except in the anoma- 
lous cases mentioned in the last rubric; 2. The careful 
removal of expressions declaring the absolute and inva- 
riable regeneration of children in baptism; 3. The 
exclusion of chrism, the sign of the cross, and other 
superstitious ceremonies practised in the mediaeval 
ritual. The Presbyterian revisers were willing that the 
use of the sign of the cross should be left free to the 
choice of the parents; but the phrase in our Directory,. 
44 without adding any other ceremony," seems to allow 
no such option. The alterations and amendments ex- 
press the sense of our standards in their own language 
or in that of their framers, as far as can be, and the 
whole office, whether used as a model or as a fixed form ? 
is suited to redeem this Sacrament from the practical 
neglect into which it has fallen, both as to its doctrine 
and the mode of administration.* 



* For the sources of this form, see the Westminster and American 
Directory and Confession of Faith, the Presbyterian Exceptions arid 
Rejoinder. Baxter's Reformed Liturgy the Proposed Alterations of 



THE REVISED BAPTISMAL SERVICES. 129 



The Catechism, defined ' ' an instruction to be learned 
by baptized children and others before they come to the 
Communion," belongs to a class of strictly Protestant 
formularies which sprang up in great numbers at the 
Reformation, and were designed to ensure the early 
indoctrination of the rising generation. They proceed 
npon the principle of the catechetical schools in the primi- 
tive Church, and the Sunday-schools in the modern 
Church, and are a private and laic mode of teaching, as 
distinguished from the more public and official preach- 
ing of the Word. The need of a Larger Catechism, to 
be added to that which Cranmer placed in the Prayer- 
book, and used for the instruction of persons of riper 
years, was very soon felt, and several manuals of the 
foreign Keformers came into use, among them the 
Larger and Shorter Catechisms of Calvin, which were 
ordered by statute to be taught in the University of 
Oxford as late as 1578.* The meagreness of the 
Prayer-book Catechism led the Presbyterians to pro- 
pose a number of amendments, in which it is plain they 
had before their minds those Westminster models which 
form our only authorized expositions of Christian doc- 
trine. And we have therefore complied with both 
authorities by inserting the Creed, the Decalogue, and 
the Lord's Prayer, as the instruction for very young 
children, and the Westminster Catechism as the expli- 
cation of those formularies for the indoctrination of the 
more advanced catechumen. At the same time, how- 
ever, we are free to admit that another and simpler and 
more personal form, somewhat on the model of that in the 
Prayer-book, with the emendations of the Presbyterian 
revisers, is a great desideratum; and nothing but an 
unwillingness to risk the introduction of a disturbing 
element has prevented the insertion of it in this 
edition, f 



1668 and 1689, and tbe Presbyterian Liturgies of the Continent. 
Knox's Book of Common Order. Digest of Acts of the General 
Assembly. 
* Eutaxia, p. 196. Procter, p. 392. 

f After the Exceptions against the Catechism were presented, the 
argument was thus continued : 
Episcopalian Answer. " The Catechism is not intended as a whol« 



I 



130 ANALYSIS OF THE PRAYER-BOOK* 



The Order of Admission to the Lord's Supper of Chih 
dren Baptized and come to Years of Discretion, is the 
logical, and, in a normal state of the Church, would be 
the invariable sequel and complement of the Baptismal 
service and the Catechetical training. Such a form or 
rite was no doubt practised from the apostles' time, 
until at length it became magnified into the pseudo- 
sacrament called Confirmation ; and even those Reformed 
Churches which have discarded the name have still 
retained the thing in the shape of some usage, more or 
less ceremonial, by which baptized persons are publicly 
admitted to the Communion. The form here given is 
eimply chap. ix. of the Directory, prefixed as a rubric 
to the English office, so amended by the Presbyterians 
as to preclude several grave errors. The principal 
points of difference are, 1. Candidates are not simply 
required to recite memoriter the Commandments, the 
Apostles' Creed, and the Lord's Prayer, but must "be 
free from scandal," and "be examined as to their 
knowledge and piety."* 2. The "officers of the church 
are the judges of their qualifications,"! and the act of 
their admission to the Communion is not restricted to 



body of divinity, but as a comprehension of the articles of faith, 
and other doctrines most necessary to salvation; and being short, 
is fittest for children and common people, and, as ifwas thought, • 
sufficient upon mature deliberation, and so is by us." 

Presbyterian Rejoinder. "The Creed, Decalogue, and the Lord'g 
Prayer, contain all that is absolutely necessary to salvation at least. 
If you intended no more, what need you make a Catechism ? If you 
intend more, why have you no more ? But except in the very words 
of the Creed, the essentials of Christianity are left out. If no expli- 
cation is necessary, trouble them with no more than the text of the 
Creed, &c. If explication be necessary, let them have it; at least in 
a Larger Catechism fitter for the riper." Documents, p. 328. 

* " We desire that the credible, approved, profession of faith and 
repentance be made necessaries." Presbyterian Rejoinder. 

f " There exists a difference between the traditionary views and 
practice of the Presbyterian and Congregational Churches with 
respect to the ability, the right, and the duty of church officers, of 
forming and affirming a positive official judgment upon the inward 
spiritual character of applicants for church privileges. The Congre- 
gationalists understand by 'credible profession,' the positive evi- 
dence of a religious experience which satisfies the official judges of 
the gracious state of the applicant. The Presbyterians understand 
by that phrase only an intelligent profession of true spiritual faith 
in Christ which is not contradicted by the life." Hodge's Outlines of 
Theology, p. 515. 



THE REVISED BAPTISMAL SERVICES. 131 



any superior order of diocesan clergymen, but exer- 
cised as an ordinary ministerial function by the pastor 
in connection with the parochial presbytery or elders of 
the congregation.* 3. The ancient benedictory symbol 
of the imposition of hands upon the head of the candi- 
date is neither enjoined nor forbidden, and if practised, 
would appear neither as an apostolic rite nor as a sac- 
lamental sign conveying special grace, but only as an 
ordiaary pastoral blessing and token of religious conse- 
cration, that might accord with the spontaneous feeling 
of the parties at the moment. The office, thus amended, 
forms a natural link between the two sacraments of 
infant Baptism and adult Communion, and is fitted not 
only to exhibit the truth in contrast with the error of 
Confirmation as practised in the Roman and Anglican 
Churches, but also to magnify the Sacraments rather 
than to depreciate them, and to develope the organic life 
of the Church by its own normal increase.f 

The Order of Baptism for Adults and such as are out 
of the Visible Church, is a comparatively modern office; 



* Prelatieal a? distinguished from Presbyterial Confirmation, is not 
practised in the Greek Church or in the Lutheran Church, and as 
retained in the Anglican Church is most naturally regarded as a 
remnant of Romanism, and one of the fruitful sources of a false 
theory of the ministry and Sacraments which has pervaded both 
bodies." See Stanley's History of Eastern Church, p. 518. 

f "This passage (Heb. vi. 2) abundantly testifies that this rite had 
its beginning from the apostles, which afterwards, however, was 
turned into superstition, as the world almost always degenerates 
into corruptions, even with resrard to the best institutions. They 
have, indeed, contrived the fiction that it is a Sacrament by which 
the spirit of regeneration is conferred, a dogma by which they have 
mutilated baptism: for what wa3 peculiar to it, they transferred to 
the imposition ef hands! Let us then know that it was instituted 
by its first founders that it might be an appointed rite for prayer, 
as Augustine calls it. The profession of faith which youth made, 
after having passed the time of childhood, they indeed intended to 
confirm by this symbol, but they thought of nothing less than to 
destroy the efficacy of baptism. Wherefore the pure institution at 
this day ought t:> be retained, but the superstition removed. And 
this passage tends to confirm pedo-baptisni: for why should the 
same doctrine be called as to some baptism, but as to others the 
imposition of hands, except that the latter, after having received 
baptism, were taught in the faith, so that nothing remained for 
them but the laying on of hands?" Calvin's Commentary ou He- 
brews, p. 134. See also SehafFs Hidtory of Apos. Church, p. 584 
Neanders Hist., vol. i p. 315. 



132 ANALYSIS OP THE PRAYER-BOOK. 



although Adult, as well as Infant, Baptism doubtless 
prevailed in the Church of the apostles as it must 
still prevail in unevangelized communities. As here 
amended, it consists of rubrics taken from our stand- 
ards, and illustrated by forms derived from the same 
sources which yielded the Order of Infant Baptism, 
with such additions and alterations as the difference 
between them requires. 

Sect. X. The Revised Occasional Services. 

Under the head of Occasional Services we may con- 
veniently class such as do not enter statedly into the 
Public Services as congregational acts of worship, but 
grow out of the special occasions of Matrimony, Sick- 
ness, Death, and Burial, when the Church comes in 
contact with domestic and social life. They are in no 
sense Sacraments, though they proceed upon natural 
relations and instincts which are recognised in the 
Scriptures as of divine appointment, and which it is 
the mission of the Christian ministry to cherish, exalt, 
and sanctify. As here presented, they will be found to 
have been derived from the same liturgical sources, and 
through the same revisions, to which We owe the ser- 
vices already reviewed. 

The Form of Solemnization of Matrimony is derived in 
part from the ancient office, and in part from the formu- 
laries of Melancthon, Bucer, and Lasco. The greater 
portion of it also appears in the Genevan liturgy of 
Knox and Whittingham. The introductory and con- 
cluding rubrics are taken from the Directory, and, 
together with the few emendations made in the text 
according to the Presbyterian Exceptions, serve to 
guard the rite on the one hand from the superstition 
which would exalt it into a church-sacrament, and on 
the other from the sensuality which would degrade it 
into a mere civil compact. Certain expressions also 
have been dropped, which, though scriptural and salu- 
tary, and deserving to be read and pondered, are in 
questionable taste as recited in a public service ; while 
at the same time enough has been retained to inculcate 



THE ADDITIONAL SERVICES. 133 

the sacredness and purity of true marriage both upon 
Christians and upon unbelievers. 

The Order for the Visitation of the Sick is almost en« 
tirely due to the ancient office, the Absolution being 
omitted as liable to be perverted to superstitious ends, 
and the rubrics so amended as to better accord with 
American customs. Whether used as a model upon 
which to construct sick-room devotions, or as a form in 
cases where any is desired or needed, its fitness as an 
office of consolation cannot be questioned. 

The Order for the Communion of the Sick, which may 
properly be blended with or added to the preceding 
service, is simply the English form, prefaced with a 
rubric, which is in the words of an Act passed by the 
last General Assembly, and by which it will be suf- 
ficiently guarded from superstition and perversion. 

The Order for the Burial of the Dead is also mainly 
derived from the ancient service, but has been freed 
from mediaeval superstitions and unsafe expressions by 
the Protestant additions and Presbyterian emendations 
which it has received. The Words of Committal* are 
from Bucer, amended with phrases from the Advent 
Collect, and from Rev. xx. 13 ; and the Prayers after 
Burial were added at the Calvinistic revision in 1552, 
and in the unmutilated form, in which they are here 
retained, bear internal evidence of their origin.f 

The Presbyterian Exceptions also have been carefully 
applied, and the whole office thus rendered "consistent 
with the largest rational charity" towards the dead, as 
well as with that « 4 instruction and comfort of the 
living," for which it is umversally acknowledged to be 
so beautifully fitted. 

Sect. XI. The Additional Services. 

Besides domestic occasions for the exercise of the 
pastoral or ministerial function, there will arise other, 
more public emergencies, when the Church comes in 



* The use of these -words, after some discussion, was decided to be 
allowable by the Westminster Assembly. See Lightfoot's Journal- 

f Compare also with the *' Forme and Maner of Buriall usit in the 
Kirk of Montrois." Published by Wodrow Society. Miscellany, 
vol.i. 



134 ANALYSIS OP THE PRAYER-BOOK. 



contact with the State ; and the forms suited to them 
must vary according to the social usages or civil laws 
which prevail in different countries. To this class 
belong the Additional Services in this edition^ printed in 
different type, as a supplement to the ordinary Prayer- 
book, and designed to adapt it more completely to the 
political and religions peculiarities of American society. 
They are taken from a Manual lately prepared by the 
editor, and examined and recommended by a number 
of clergymen of national reputation in the different 
Christian denominations of the country, and are, as far 
as possible, a compilation from the Holy Scriptures, the 
ancient liturgies, and the modern formularies of the 
Reformed Churches; the few examples not afforded by 
such sources having been composed out of scriptural 
and liturgical expressions after the same models. 
Although free from sectarian peculiarities, and com- 
piled before the idea of this Prayer-book was formed, 
their addition to it may give it greater fulness and fit- 
Bess, if not for actual use, yet at least as a help toward 
something better.* 



* "A Manual of Worship, suitable to be used in Legislative and 
&ther Public Bodies, in the Army and Navy, and in Military and 
Naval Academies, Asylums, Hospitals, &c. Compiled from the 
Forms and in accordance with the Common Usages of all Christian 
Denominations." 

RECOMMENDATION. 

" The undersigned cordially unite in recommendingthis Manual of 
Worship as suitable for discretionary use in National and State 
Legislatures, in the Army and Navy, and in Military and Naval 
Institutions, in cases where our own respective rules and customs of 
worship cannot be exclusively maintained." 

Rev. Albert Barnes, Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, 
(N. S.',) Philadelphia. 

Rev. H. W. Bellows, D. B., Minister to the First Congregational 
Church, (Unitarian,) New York. 

Rev. H. A. Boardman, D. B , Pastor of the Tenth Presbyterian 
Church, (0. S.,) Philadelphia, 

Rev. Charles B. Cooper, B. D., Rector of St. Philip's Church, 
(Episcopal.) Philadelphia. 

Rev. J. B. Bales, B. B., Pastor of the First United Presbyterian 
Church, Philadelphia. 

Rev. Thomas Be Witt, B.B., Pastor of Collegiate Reformed Butch 
Church, New York. 

Rev. J. P. Dubbin, D.D., Methodist Episcopal Church, New York. 



THE ADDITIONAL SERVICES. 



135 



The Form of Visitation of Mourners is a social service, 
neither public nor domestic, strictly speaking, though 
it corresponds somewhat to the Visitation of the Sick. 
Its chief warrant, however, is the existing usage of 
having an oihce of devotion at the house of the deceased 
person, before proceeding to the church or to the grave, 
or in cases where it is not convenient or desirable for 
all the company to attend either of those services. On 
such informal occasions, the practice of reading aptly 
chosen portions of Scripture, and accompanying them 
with a brief address, if need be, and suitable petitions, 
has been found more acceptable than set lessons and 
collects, or than the opposite extreme of desultory 
exhortation and prayer. 

The Forms of Public Humiliation and Public Thanks- 
giving, like the English state-services, are modelled 
upon the Order of the Daily and Sunday Offices, and 
may be either blended with or added to corresponding 
portions of those offices, as circumstances will dictate. 
The examples given are mainly of early English origin, 
with such modern, emendations and additions as our 
political system demands; and it is believed that they 
comprise all the ordinary public vicissitudes which will 



Rev. H. B. Hackett, D. D., Prof, in Newton (Baptist) Theological 
Institution. Mas? 

Bkv. H. Hasbaugh, D. D., Pastor of St. John's Church, (German 
Reformed,) Lebanon. Pa. 

Rev. Charles Hodge, D. D., Professor of Theology, Princeton, 
Ne^ Jersey. 

Rev. C. P. Krauts, D. D., Evangelical Lutheran Church, Phila- 
delphia. 

Right Rev. C. P. McIlvai>e, D.D., D.C.L., Protestant Episcopal 
Church. Diocese of Ohio. 

Right Rev. Aloxzo Potter, D. D., LL.D., Protestant Episcopal 
Church. Diocese of Pennsylvania. 

Rev. Baksjas Sears, D. D. 3 President of Brown University, Provi- 
dence, R. I. 

Rev. Thomas H Stockton, D. D.. Methodist Protestant Church. 
Bev. Thatcher Thayer, D.D.. Pastor of the Congregational Church* 
Newport. R. L 

Rev. Jos. P. Thompson, D. D., Pastor of the Tabernacle (Congrega- 
tional) Church. New York. 

Rkt. William R. Williams. D.D., Pastor of the Baptist Church, 
Amitv Street, New York. 

Rev. Theodore D. "VToolsey, D. D., LL.D., President of Yale College 
New EJaven, Conn. 



136 ANALYSIS OE THE PRAYER-BOOK. 

be likely to become, by appointment of the civil author* 
ity, an occasion either of humiliation or of thanksgiving. 

The Forms of Daily Prayer to be used in Legislatures, 
in the Army and Navy, in Schools and Families, and 
other like recurrent occasions, are examples of a class 
of devotions, incident to civil and social life, for which 
the Prayer-book does not make adequate provision, as 
is shown by the numerous manuals which are issued to 
meet the want. The peculiarity of those here given is, 
that they are derived from catholic sources, and framed 
upon scriptural and liturgical models. 

The Various Prayers and Various Thanksgivings, to be 
used in connection with the immediately preceding 
forms, or in the Daily or Sunday Office, as the special 
occasion will require, correspond to the miscellany usu- 
ally placed after the Litany, but differ from them in 
being more numerous and various, and therefore too 
unwieldy a collection to be inserted in the midst of the 
ordinary service. They also are mainly classic in their 
origin and style, and may serve either as samples or as 
set forms, by means of which public, social, or private 
worship may be varied and adapted to the different 
emergencies and vicissitudes of human life. 

The date and authorship of these forms, as far as 
ascertainable, will appear in our General Index to the 
Historical Sources of the Prayer-book, to which we must 
also refer the reader for a variety of other minute 
information respecting its contents, which could not be 
included in our previous review without pedantic and 
wearisome citations at every step of our progress. The 
accuracy of the Index, in any particular case, can 
easily be tested by referring to the authorities already 
quoted. 



APPENDIX I. 



CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL HISTORICAL 
AND LITURGICAL DOCUMENTS CONNECTED WITH THB 
COMPILATION AND REVISION OF THE PRAYER-BOOK, 
AND USED IN THE PREPARATION OF THIS EDITION. 

The following: List may sufficiently exhibit, at one view. th€ 
literary history of the Prayer-hook, but comprises only such 
writings as are most authoritative in deciding questions relating to 
it, without pretending to include the numerous collateral works in 
the shape of histories, expositions, editions, and versions to which 
it has given rise, and which by themselves form a bibliography too 
extensive to be brought within the limits of this treatise. 

King Edward** First Prayer-book (1549.) 

The Latin Breviary, Missal, and Ritual. 
The English Litany of Henry the Eighth. 
The German Reformation- book of Bucer and Mekuift* 
thon, prepared for Hermann, Elector of Cologne. 
The English "Order of Communion." 

King Edward's Second Prayer-booh (1552 ) 

Calvin's Letters to the Lord Protector, to King Ed« 
ward the Sixth, and to Bucer 5 urging further Reforma- 
tion. 

Bucer's Censura of the Prayer-book. 
The Calvinistic Liturgy of Pollanus. 
The Calvinistic Liturgy of Lasco. 
King Edward's Prymer, or Book of Private Prayer. 
Original Works and Letters of the English Reformers, 
collected by the Parker Society. 



133 



APPENDIX. 



The Frankfort Prayer-booh (1553.) 

Brief Discourse of the Troubles at Frankfort, by 
Knox and Whittingham. 

Original Letters and Works of the English Exiles at 
Frankfort. 

Knox's Book of Common Order for the English 
€hurch at Geneva. 

Queen Elizabeth'' s Prayer-booh (1558.) 

The Litany used in the Queen's Chapel. 

Original Works and Letters of Elizabethan Reformers 

The Puritan Editions of the Prayer-book. 



The Prayer-booh of King James I (1603.) 

The Millenary Petition for Revision. 
• Alterations or Explanations made in i604. 

The Prayer-booh of Charles I. (1639.) 

Archbishop Laud's Prayer-book for Scotland. 

The Parliamentary Committee's Considerations upon 
the Book of Common Prayer. 

The Parliamentary Order for Revision of the Liturgy. 

The Calvinistic and Knoxian Liturgies before the 
Parliamentary Assembly of Divines. 

The Westminster Assembly's Directory for Public 
Worship. 

The Prayer-booh of Charles II. (1661.) 

Declaration of King Charles II. from Breda. 

Interview of the Presbyterian Ministers with King 
Charles II. at Breda. 

Discourse of the Ministers with King Charles II. io 
London. 

The First Address and Proposals of the Ministers. 



LIST OF AUTHORITIES. 



139 



Archbishop Usher's Model of Church Government. 

Requests verbally presented to King Charles II. in 
consequence of the Act for restoring the English Clergy. 

The Bishops' Answer to the First Proposals of the 
London Ministers, who attempted the work of recon- 
cilement. 

A Defence of our Proposals to His Majesty for Agre6- 
meni in Matters of Religion. 

His Majesty's Declaration to all his loving subjects 
of his kingdom of England and dominion of Wales con- 
cerning Ecclesiastical affairs. 

The Petition of the Ministers to the King upon the 
first draft of his Declaration. 

Alterations in the Declaration proposed by the Min- 
isters. 

Humble and grateful acknowledgment of some Min- 
isters of London for the Declaration. 

A Proclamation prohibiting all unlawful and seditious 
meetings and conventicles under pretence of religious 
worship. 

The King's Warrant for the Conference at the Savoy. 
The Exceptions against the Book of Common Prayer. 
The Answer of the Bishops to the Exceptions of the 
Ministers. 

The Petition for peace and concord presented to the 
Bishops with the proposed Reformation of the Liturgy. 

The Rejoinder of the Ministers to the Answer of the 
Bishops. 

Paper offered by Bishop Cosins, and Answer thereto. 
The Discussion on Kneeling at the Lord's Supper. 
The Discussion on the Sinfulness of the Liturgy. 
The Reply to the Bishops' Disputants which was not 
answered. 

Petition to the King at the close of the Conference. 

The Act of Uniformity, 14 Car. ii. cap. 4. 

Efforts of Presbyterian Ministers to have the King's 
Declaration of October, 1660, enacted. 

Extracts from Journals of Parliament relating to the 
passing of the Act of Uniformity. 

The Six Hundred Alterations made in the Book of 
Common Prayer by Convocation, and adopted by Par- 
liament. 



140 



APPENDIX. 



The Publication of the Book of Common Prayer. 
The King's Declaration of the 27th of December, 
1662. 

Proceedings in Parliament upon the King's Declara- 
tion of 26th December, 1662. 

The Conventicle Act, 1664; 16 Car. ii. cap. 4. 
The Five Mile Act, 17 Car. ii. cap. 2. 
The Conventicle Act, 1670; 22 Car. ii. cap. 1. 
The Test Act, 25 Car. ii. cap. 2. 

The Prayer -book of King William III. 

Proposals for the Comprehension of the Presbyteri- 
ans, and Indulgence to the Independents, between 
Bishops Stillingfleet, and Tillotson, etc., and Drs. Bates, 
Manton, and Baxter. 

Declaration of William, Prince of Orange, to endeavor 
a good agreement between the Church of England and 
Protestant Dissenters. 

Alterations in the Book of Common Prayer prepared 
by the Royal Commissioners for the Revision of the 
Liturgy in 1689. 

The Toleration Act, 1 GuiL eft Mar. 



APPENDIX II. 



THE PRESBYTERIAN EXCEPTIONS AGAINST THB 
BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER, 

PRESENTED AT THE SATOT CONFERENCE, A. D. 1661. 

From the preceding list of authorities we select for the reasons 
given in chap, viii , the following document, and here present it. not 
only as the baids of this edition, but as a historical nucleus of all 
previous and subsequent editions and revisions, as will appear in 
the notes which we have collated from the different authorities 
dating before and after it. The references are to pages in this trea- 
tise, which, in connection with corresponding portions of the 
Prayer-book, will show the manner in which these Exceptions have 
been applied. 

Acknowledging "with all humility and thankfulness, 
his majesty's most princely condescension and indul- 
gence, to Yery many of his loyal subjects, as well in his 
majesty's most gracious Declaration, as particularly in 
this present commission, issued forth in pursuance 
thereof ; we doubt not but the right reverend bishops, 
and all the rest of his majesty's commissioners intrusted 
in this work, will, in imitation of his majesty's most 
prudent and Christian moderation and clemency, judge 
it their duty (what we find to be the apostles' own prac- 
tice) in a special manner to be tender of the churches* 
peace, to bear with the infirmities of the weak, and not 
to please themselves, nor to measure the consciences of 
other men by the light and latitude of their own, but 
seriously and readily to consider and advise of such 
expedients as may most conduce to the healing of our 
breaches, and uniting those that differ. 
And albeit we have a high and honorable esteem of 

(141] 



142 



APPENDIX. 



those godly and learned bishops and others, who were 
the first compilers of the public liturgy, and do look 
upon it as an excellent and worthy work, for that time, 
when the Church of England made her first step out of 
such a mist of popish ignorance and superstition wherein 
it formerly was involved; yet, considering that all 
human works do gradually arrive at their maturity and 
perfection, and this in particular, being a work of that 
nature, hath already admitted several emendations 
since the first compiling thereof:— 

It cannot be thought any disparagement or deroga- 
tion either to the work itself, or to the compilers of it, 
or to those who have hitherto used it, if after more than 
a hundred years, since its first composure, such further 
emendations be now made therein as may be judged 
necessary for satisfying the scruples of a multitude of 
sober persons, who cannot at all (or very hardly) com- 
ply with the use of it, as now it is, and may best suit 
with the present times after so long an enjoyment of 
the glorious light of the gospel, and so happy a reforma- 
tion: especially considering that many godly and learned 
men have from the beginning all along earnestly desired 
the alteration of many things therein ; and very many 
of his majesty's pious, peaceable, and loyal subjects, 
after so long a discontinuance of it, are more averse 
from it than heretofore ; the satisfying of whom (as far 
as may be) will very much conduce to that peace and 
unity which is so much desired by all good men, and so 
much endeavored by his most excellent majesty.* 

And therefore, in pursuance of this his majesty's 
most gracious commission, for the satisfaction of tender 
consciences, and the procuring of peace and unity 
amongst ourselves, we judge meet to propose, 

I. First, that all the prayers and other materials of 



* This Preface, in which a hundred years of grievance and protest 
find utterance, was warmly discussed, paragraph by paragraph, iq 
the Episcopalian Answer and Presbyterian Rejoinder; and though 
its lofty conservatism and catholicity were disregarded by the Eng< 
lish prelates in the day of their power, yet its spirit still lives in the 
liberal and spiritual portion of the Church of England, and cannot 
but increase in the corresponding class of American Episcopalians 
in proportion as the common enemy of ritualism shall force theui 
Into closer practical union with their hereditary Presbyterian allies. 



THE PRESBYTERIAN EXCEPTIONS. 143 



the liturgy may consist of nothing doubtful or questioned 
amongst pious, learned, and orthodox persons, inasmuch 
as the professed end of composing them is for the de- 
claring of the unity and consent of all who join in the 
public worship ; it being too evident that the limiting 
of church-communion to things of doubtful disputation, 
hath been in all ages the ground of schism and separa- 
tion, according to the saying of a learned person.* 

"To load our public forms with the private fancies 
upon which we differ, is the most sovereign way to per- 
petuate schism to the world's end. Prayer, confession, 
thanksgiving, reading of the Scriptures, and administra- 
tion of the sacraments in the plainest and simplest 
manner, were matter enough to furnish out a sufficient 
liturgy, though nothing either of private opinion, or of 
church-pomp, of garments, or prescribed gestures, of 
imagery, of music, of matter concerning the dead, of 
many superfluities which creep into the Church under 
the name of order and decency, did interpose itself. To 
charge churches and liturgies with things unnecessary, 
•was the first beginning of all superstition, and when 
scruple of conscience began to be made or pretended, 
then schism began to break in. If the special guides 
and fathers of the Church would be a little sparing of 
incumbering churches with superfluities, or not over- 
rigid, either in reviving obsolete customs, or imposing 
new, there would be far less cause of schism or super- 
stition; and all the inconvenience were likely to ensue 
would be but this, they should in so doing yield a little 
to the imbecility of their inferiors; a thing which St. 
Paul would never have refused to do. Meanwhile, 
wheresoever false or suspected opinions are made a 
piece of church-liturgy, he that separates is not the 
schismatic; for it is alike unlawful to make profession 
of known or suspected falsehood, as to put in practice 
unlawful or suspected action." 



• In this first exception is presented that ideal of orthodoxy 
blended with charity, authority with liberty, and unity with variety, 
which Presbyterian churches, not only in England, but in all coun- 
tries, have steadfastly pur-sued, oftentimes, as in this instance, a* 
the expense of their worldly interests. 



144 



APPENDIX. 



II. Further, we humbly desire that it may be seri* 
ously considered, that as our first Reformers out of theii 
great wisdom did at that time so compose the liturgy 
as to win upon the papists, and to draw them into their 
church-communion, by varying as little as they well 
could from the Romish forms before in use: so whether 
in the present constitution, and state of things amongst 
ns, we should not, according to the same rule of pru- 
dence and charity, have our liturgy so composed as to 
gain upon the judgments and affection of all those who, 
in the substantial of the Protestant religion, are of the 
same persuasions with ourselves: inasmuch as a more 
firm union and consent of all such, as well in worship as 
in doctrine, would greatly strengthen the Protestant 
interest against all those dangers and temptations which 
our intestine divisions and animosities do expose us 
unto from the common adversary.* 

III. That the repetitions, and responsals of the clerk 
and people, and the alternate reading of the psalms 
and hymns, which cause a confused murmur in the con- 
gregation, whereby what is read is less intelligible, and 
therefore unedifying, may be omitted: the minister 
being appointed for the people in all public services 
appertaining unto God, and the Holy Scriptures, both 
of the Old and New Testament, intimating the people's 
part in public prayer to be only with silence and rever- 
ence to attend thereunto, and to declare their consent 
in the close by saying Amen.f 

IV. That in regard the litany (though otherwise con- 
taining in it many holy petitions) is so framed that the 
petitions for a great part are uttered only by the people. 



* An exception first raised at Frankfort in 1555, renewed at Hamp- 
ton Court in 1603, adopted in the Westminster Assembly in 1645, 
disputed in the Episcopalian Answer, re-affirmed in the Presbyterian 
Rejoinder, partially conceded in 1668 by the Episcopalian Proposals 
for the Comprehension of the Presbyterians, and practically guaran- 
teed in 1689 by the Act of Toleration. 

t First broached at Frankfort. Practised for a century afterwards 
by the English Puritans. Authorized by the Parliamentary Assem- 
bly. Negatived in the Answer. Re-affirmed in the Rejoinder. Made 
illegal by the Act of Uniformity, and finally allowed by the Act of 
Toleration. Partially adopted by the American Episcopalians; 
Applied, pp. 58, 84. 



THE PRESBYTERIAN EXCEPTIONS. 145 



which we think not to be so consonant to Scripture, 
which makes the minister the mouth of the people to 
God in prayer, the particulars thereof may be composed 
into one solemn prayer to be offered by the minister 
unto God for the people.* 

V. That there be nothing in the liturgy which may 
seem to countenance the observation of Lent as a reli- 
gious fast; the example of Christ fasting forty days 
and nights being no more imitable, nor intended for the 
imitation of a Christian, than any other of his miracu- 
lous works were, or than Moses his forty days' fast was 
for the Jews; and the act of Parliament, 5 Eliz., for- 
bidding abstinence from flesh to be observed upon any 
other than a politic consideration, and punishing all 
those who, by preaching, teaching, writing, or open 
speeches, shall notify that the forbearing of flesh is of 
any necessity for the saving of the soul, or that it is the 
service of God, otherwise than as other politic laws 
are.f 

VI. That the religious observation of saints' days, 
appointed to be kept as holy-days, and the vigils 
thereof, without any foundation (as we conceive) in 
Scripture, may be omitted. That if any be retained, 
they may be called festivals, and not holy-days, nor 
made equal with the Lord's day, nor have any peculiar 
service appointed for them, nor the people be upon such 
days forced wholly to abstain from work, and that the 
names of all others now inserted in the Calendar, which 
are not in the first and second books of Edward the 
Sixth, may be left out. J 

VII. That the gift of prayer, being one special quali- 
fication for the work of the ministry bestowed by Christ 



* First questioned at Frankfort. Disputed in the Answer. Defended 
in the Rejoinder. Left indifferent in this edition. 

f Proposed in the Westminster Assembly. Denied in the Answer. 
Defended in the Rejoinder. Conceded by the English Episcopalians 
in the Commission of 1689. Adopted by the American Episcopalians 
in the Convention of 1786. Applied. P. 116. 

% Partially conceded by the Episcopalians in 1641. Made an a p. 
pendix to the Westminster Directory in 1646. Refused in the 
Answer. Left indifferent in the Rejoinder. Dropped from the Ameri- 
can Directory. Partially adopted in the American Episcopalian 
Praver book. Applied. P. 116. 



146 



APPENDIX. 



in order to the edification of his Church, and to be 
exercised for the profit and benefit thereof, according to 
its various and emergent necessity; it is desired that 
there may be no such imposition of the liturgy, as that 
the exercise of that gift be thereby totally excluded in 
any part of public worship. And further, considering 
the great age of some ministers and infirmities of others, 
and the variety of several services oft-times concurring 
upon the same day, whereby it may be inexpedient to 
require every minister at all times to read the whole, it 
may be left to the discretion of the minister to omit 
part of it, as occasion shall require; which liberty we 
find to be allowed even in the First Common Prayer- 
book of Edward VI.* 

VIII. That in regard of the many defects which have 
been observed in that version of the Scriptures which is 
used throughout the liturgy (manifold instances whereof 
may be produced, as in the epistle for the first Sunday 
after Epiphany, taken out of Romans xii. 1, "Be ye 
changed in your shape;" and the epistle for the Sunday 
next before Easter, taken out of Philippians ii. 5, " Found 
in his apparel as a man;" as also the epistle for the 
fourth Sunday in Lent, taken out of the fourth of the 
Galatians, "Mount Sinai is Agar in Arabia, and border- 
eth upon the city which is now called Jerusalem;" the 
epistle for St. # Matthew's day, taken out of the second 
epistle of Corinth, and the iv^, "We go not out of 
kind;" the gospel for the second Sunday after Epiph- 
any, taken out of the second of John, "When men be 
drunk ;" the gospel for the third Sunday in Lent, taken 
out of the xith of Luke, "One house doth fall upon 
another;" the gospel for the Annunciation, taken out 
of the first of Luke, "This is the sixth month which 
was called barren;" and many other places,) we there- 
fore desire, instead thereof, the new translation allowed 
by authority may alone be used f 



* Practised for a century before by the Puritans. Authorized by 
the Parliamentary Assembly of Divines. Refused in the Answer. 
Defended in the Rejoinder. Forbidden by the Act of Uniformity. 
Allowed by the Act of Toleration. Practised, to some extent, by 
"Evangelical" Episcopalians. Guaranteed by the Directory. 

f Conceded by the Episcopalians. Adopted in all subsequent 
Pra3 ; er-books throughout, except in the Commandments and th« 
Psalter. Applied in the Commandments. 



THE PRESBYTERIAN EXCEPTIONS. 147 



IX. That inasmuch as the holy Scriptures are able to 
make us wise unto salvation, to furnish us throughly 
unto all good works, and contain in them all things 
necessary, either in doctrine to be believed, or in duty 
to be practised; whereas divers chapters of the apocry- 
phal books appointed to be read, are charged to be in 
both respects of dubious and uncertain credit: it is 
therefore desired, that nothing be read in the church for 
lessons, but the holy Scriptures of the Old and New 
Testament.* 

X. That the minister be not required to rehearse any 
part of the liturgy at the communion-table, save only 
those parts which properly belong to the Lord's Sup- 
per; and that at such times only when the said holy 
Supper is administered. f 

XI. That as the word < * minister," and not priest or 
curate, is used in the Absolution, and in divers other 
places ; it may throughout the whole book be so used 
instead of those two words ; and that instead of the 
word " Sunday," the word " Lord's day" may be every- 
where used. J 

XII. Because singing of psalms is a considerable part 
of public worship, we desire that the version set forth 
and allowed to be sung in churches may be amended ; 
or that we may have leave to make use of a purer 
version. $ 

XIII. That all obsolete words in the Common Prayer, 
and such whose use is changed from their first signifi- 
cancy, as u aread" used in the gospel for the Monday 
and Wednesday before Easter; " Then opened he their 



* First proposed at Hampton Court. Queried by the Episcopalians 
!n 1641. Adopted by the Westminster Presbyterians. Discussed in 
the Answer arid Rejoinder. Conceded by the Episcopalian Commis- 
sioners of 1668 and 1689. Retained in the American Confession of 
Faith. Applied. P. 94. 

f First proposed by Bucer in 1549. Advocated by the Elizabethan 
Puritans. Maintained by the Episcopalians in 1641. Denied in the 
Answer. Defended in the Rejoinder. Applied. P. 107. 

% Conceded by the Episcopalian Commissioners in 1689. Applied 
as far as now practicable. P. 107. 

§ This Exception doe;; not refer to the prose Psalter, but to Psalmf 
in metre- Se# Answer and Rejoinder, and p. 92. 



148 



APPENDIX. 



wits," used in the gospel for Easter Tuesday, &c; may 
be altered unto other words generally received ancl 
beiter understood.* 

XIV. That no portions of the Old Testament, or of 
the Acts of the Apostles, be called ' ' epistles," and 
read as such.f 

XV. That whereas throughout the several offices, the 
phrase is such as presumes all persons (within the com- 
munion of the church) to be regenerated, converted, 
and in an actual state of grace, (which, had ecclesiasti- 
cal discipline been truly and vigorously executed, in 
the exclusion of scandalous and obstinate sinners, 
might be better supposed ; but there having been, and 
still being a confessed want of that, (as in the liturgy 
is acknowledged,) it cannot be rationally admitted in 
the utmost latitude of charity :) we desire that this 
may be reformed. J 

XVI. That whereas orderly connection of prayers, 
and of particular petitions and expressions, together 
with a competent length of the forms used, are tending 
much to edification, and to gain the reverence of people 
to them ; there appears to us too great a neglect of 
both, of this order, and of other just laws, of method. 

PARTICULARLY. 

1. The collects are generally short, many of them 
consisting but of one, or at most two sentences of peti- 
tion ; and these generally ushered in with a repeated 
mention of the name and attributes of God ; and presently 
concluding with the name and merits of Ghrist ; whence 
are caused many unnecessary intercisions and abruptions 
which, when many petitions are to be offered at the same 
time, are neither agreeable to scriptural examples, nor 
suited to the gravity and seriousness of that holy duty.f 



* Conceded and generally adopted in the Prayer-book, 
f Partially conceded and adopted. 

% Urged by Bucer in 1549, and by th Puritans from the begin- 
ning. Enjoined by the Westminster formularies. Discussed in the 
Answer and Rejoinder without result. Conceded and proposed in 
1668, and 1698. Carefully applied throughout this edition. 

§ Denied in the Answer, but partially conceded »nd adopted in 
the Proposed Collects of 1698. 



THE PRESBYTERIAN EXCEPTIONS. 149 



2. The prefaces of many collects have not any deaf 
*nd special respect to the following petitions ; and par- 
ticular petitions are put together, which have not any 
due order, nor evident connection one with another, nor 
suitableness with the occasions upon which they are 
used, but seem to have fallen in rather casually, than 
from an orderly contrivance. 

It is desired, that instead of those various collects, 
there may be one methodical and entire form of prayer 
composed out of many of them.* 

XVII. That whereas the public liturgy of a church 
should in reason comprehend the sum of all such sins 
as are ordinarily to be confessed in prayer by the 
church, and of such petitions and thanksgivings as are 
ordinarily by the church to be put up to God, and the 
public catechisms or systems of doctrine, should sum- 
marily comprehend all such doctrines as are necessary 
to be believed, and these explicitly set down ; the pres- 
ent liturgy as to all these seems very defective. 

PARTICULARLY. 

1. There is no preparatory prayer in our address to 
God for assistance or acceptance ; yet many collects in 
the midst of the worship have little or nothing else.f 

2. The Confession is very defective, not clearly 
expressing original sin, nor sufficiently enumerating 
actual sins, with their aggravations, but consisting only 
of generals ; whereas confession being the exercise of 
repentance, ought to be more particular. J 

3. There is also a great defect as to such forms of 
public praise and thanksgiving as are suitable to gospel- 
worship^ 

4. The whole body of the Common-prayer also con- 
sisteth very much of mere generals: as, "to have our 
prayers heard — to be kept from all evil, and from all 



* Denied, but afterwards adopted, in several examples, in both 
English and American Prayer-books. Pp. 99, 98. 

f Disproved in tbe Answer. Not applied. P. 91. 

% Discussed in the Answer and Rejoinder, but neither before nor 
afterwards. Not applied. P. 90, 

g Queried in the Answer, but finally admitted and remedied in alJ 
subsequent editions. Applied. P. 99. 



150 



APPENDIX. 



enemies, and all adversity, that we might do God's 
will;" without any mention of the particulars in which 
these generals exist. 

5. The Catechism is defective as to many necessary 
doctrines of our religion; some even of the essentials 
of Christianity not mentioned except in the Creed, and 
there not so explicit as ought to be in a catechism,* 

XVIII. Because this liturgy containeth the imposi- 
tion of divers ceremonies which from the first reforma- 
tion have by sundry learned and pious men been judged 
unwarrantable, as, 

1. That public worship may not be celebrated by any 
minister that dare not wear a surplice. 

2. That none may baptize, nor be baptized, without 
the transient image of the cross, which hath at least 
the semblance of a sacrament of human institution, 
being used as an engaging sign in our first and solemn 
covenanting with Christ ; and the duties whereunto we 
are really obliged by baptism being more expressly 
fixed to that airy sign than to this holy sacrament. 

3. That none may receive the Lord's Supper that 
dare not kneel in the act of receiving ; but the minister 
must exclude all such from the communion : although 
such kneeling not only differs from the practice of 
Christ and of his apostles, but (at least on the Lord's day) 
is contrary to the practice of the catholic church for 
many hundred years after, and forbidden by the most 
yenerable councils that ever were in the Christian world. 
All which impositions are made yet more grievous by 
that subscription to their lawfulness which the canon 
exacts, and by the heavy punishment upon the non- 
observance of them which the act of uniformity inflicts. 

And it being doubtful whether God hath given power 
unto men, to institute in his worship such mystical 
teaching signs, which not being necessary in genere, fall 
not under the rule of ''doing all things decently, 
orderly, and to edification," and which once granted, 
will, upon the same reason, open a door to the arbitrary 
imposition of numerous ceremonies of which St. Augus- 
tine complained in his days ; and the things in contro* 



* See below. Exceptions against the Catechism 



THE PRESBITKRTAH EXCEPTIONS. 151 



vers 1 ' being in the judgment of the imposers confessedly 
indifferent, who do not so much as pretend tiny real 
goodness in them of themselves, otherwise than what is 
derive ! from their being imposed, and consequently the 
imposition ceasing, that will cease also, and the worship 
of God not become indecent without them : 

Whereas, on the other hand, in the judgment of the 
opposers. they are by some held sinful, and unlawful in 
themselves : by others very inconvenient and unsuitable 
to the simplicity of gospel worship, and by all of them 
very grievous and burthensome. and therefore not at ail 
fit to be put in balance with the peace of the church, 
which is more likely to be promoted by their removal 
than continuance: considering also how tender our 
Lord and Saviour himself is of weak brethren, declar- 
ing it much better for a man to have a 4i millstone 
hanged about his neck, and be cast into the depth of 
the sea, than to offend one of his little ones:'' and how 
the apostle Paul (who ha :1 as great legislative power in 
the church as any under Christ) held himself obliged 
by that common rule of charity, " not to lay a stumb- 
ling block, or an occasion of offence before a weak bro- 
ther, choosing rather not to eat flesh whilst the world 
stands"" | though in itself a thing lawful) "than offend 
his brother for whom Christ died:" we cannot but 
desire that these ceremonies may not be imposed on 
them who judge such impositions a violation of the 
royalty of Christ, and an impeachment of his laws as 
insufficient, and are under the holy awe of that which 
is written. Deal xii. 3J: " What thing soever I com- 
mand you. observe to do it : thou shalt not add thereto, 
nor diminish from it:" but that there may be either a 
total abolition of them, or at least such a liberty, that 
those wh^ are unsatisfied concerning their lawfulness 
or expediency, may not be compelled to the practice 
of them, or subscription to them : but may be permit- 
ted to enjoy their ministerial function, and communion 
with the church, without them. 

The rather because these ceremonies have for above 
an hundred years been the fountain of manifold evils 
in this church and nation, occasioning sad divisions 
between ministers and ministers, as also between 



152 



APPENDIX. 



ministers and people; exposing many orthodox, pious, 
and peaceable ministers to the displeasure of their 
rulers, casting them on the edge of the penal statutes, 
to the loss not only of their living and liberties, but 
also of their opportunities for the service of Christ and 
his church ; and forcing people either to worship God 
in such a manner as their own consciences condemn, or 
doubt of, or else to forsake our assemblies, as thousands 
have done. And no better fruits than these can be 
looked for from the retaining and imposing of these 
ceremonies, unless we could presume that all his 
majesty's subjects should have the same subtilty of 
judgment to discern even to a ceremony how far the 
power of man extends in the things of God, which is 
not to be expected; or should yield obedience to. all the 
impositions of men concerning them, without inquiring 
into the will of God, which is not to be desired. 

We do therefore most earnestly entreat the right 
reverend fathers and brethren, to whom these papers 
are delivered, as they tender the glory of God, the 
honor of religion, the peace of the Church, the service 
of his majesty in the accomplishment of that happy 
union, which his majesty hath so abundantly testified 
his desires of, to join with us in importuning his most 
excellent majesty, that his most gracious indulgence, as 
to these ceremonies, granted in his royal Declaration, 
may be confirmed and continued to us and our posteri- 
ties, and extended to such as do not yet enjoy the benefit 
thereof.* 

XIX. As to that passage in his majesty's Commission, 
where we are authorized and required to compare the 
present liturgy with the most ancient liturgies which 
have been used in the Church in the purest and most 
primitive times; we have in obedience to his majesty's 
Commission, made inquiry, but cannot find any records 



* These ceremonies were abandoned by the English Episcopalians 
at Frankfort; opposed by the Puritans at Hampton Court; minutely 
enjoined in the Scottish Prayer-book; abolished by the Parliament- 
ary Assembly; defended in the Answer; deplored in the Rejoinder ; 
left indifferent in the Proposed Prayer-book of 1698. and also to 
some extent in the Protestant Episcopal Prayer-book, and in this 
edition. Pp. 83, 84. 



THE PRESBYTERIAN EXCEPTIONS. 153 



of known credit, concerning any entire forms of liturgy, 
within the first three hundred years, which are con- 
fessed to be as the most primitive, so the purest ages of 
the Church ; nor any impositions of liturgies upon any 
national Church for some hundreds of years after. We 
find indeed some liturgical forms fathered upon St. 
Basil, St. Chrysostom, and St. Ambrose, but we have 
not seen any copies of them, but such as give us suf* 
ficient evidence to conclude them either wholly spuri- 
ous, or so interpolated, that we cannot make a judg- 
ment which in them hath any primitive authority.* 

Having thus in general expressed our desires, we 
come now to particulars, which we find numerous and 
of a various nature; some, we grant, are of inferior 
consideration, verbal rather than material, (which, 
were they not in the public liturgy of so famous a 
Church, we should not have mentioned,) others dubious 
and disputable, as not having a clear foundation in 
Scripture for their warrant: but some there be that 
seem to be corrupt, and to carry in them a repugnancy 
to the rule of the gospel ; and therefore have adminis- 
tered just matter of exception and offence to many, 
truly religious and peaceable, — not of a private station 
only, but learned and judicious divines, as well of other 
reformed Churches as of the Church of England, — ever 
since the Reformation. 

We know much hath been spoken and written by way 
of apology in answer to many things that have been 
objected ; but yet the doubts and scruples of tender 
consciences still continue, or rather are increased. We 
do humbly conceive it therefore a work worthy of those 
wonders of salvation, which God hath wrought for his 
majesty now on the throne, and for the whole kingdom, 
and exceedingly becoming the ministers of the gospel 
of peace, with all holy moderation and tenderness to 
endeavor the removal of everything out of the worship 
of God which may justly offend or grieve the spirits of 
sober and godly people. The things themselves that 



* Disputed in the Answer. Defended with a learned argument in 
the Rejoinder. 



154 



APPENDIX. 



are desired to be removed, not being of the foundation 

of religion, nor the essentials of public worship, nor the 
removal of them any way tending to the prejudice of 
the Church or State ; therefore their continuance and 
rigorous imposition can no ways be able to countervail 
the laying aside of so many pious and able ministers, 
and the unconceivable grief that will arise to multitudes 
of his majesty's most loyal and peaceable subjects, who 
upon all occasions are ready to serve him with their 
prayers, estates, and lives. For the preventing of 
which evils we humbly desire that these particulars 
following may be taken into serious and tender consid- 
eration. 



CONCERNING MORNING AND EVENING PRAYER. 



Rubric, 
That morning and even- 
ing prayer shall be used in 
the accustomed place of 
the church, chancel, or 
chapel, except it be other- 
wise determined by the or- 
dinary of the place; and 
the chancel shall remain as 
in times past. 



Exception. 

We desire that the words 
of the first rubric may be 
expressed as in the book 
established by authority of 
parliament 5 and 6 Edw. 
VI. thus : " The morning 
and evening prayer shall 
be used in such place of 
of the church, chapel, or 



chancel, and the minister 
ehall so turn him, as the people may best hear, and if 
there be any controversy therein, the matter shall be 
referred to the ordinary."* 



Rubric. 

And here is to be noted, 
that the minister, at the 
time of the communion, 
and at other times, in his 
ministration shall use such 
ornaments in the church, 



Exception. 
Forasmuch as this rubric 
seemeth to bring back the 
cope, albe, &c, and other 
vestments forbidden by the 
Common Prayer-book 5 and 
6 Edw. VI. and so our rea- 



* Substantially conceded by the Episcopalians in 1641. Refused 
in the Answer. Formally proposed by the Episcopalian Comniis« 
lioners of 1698. The rubric is omitted in the Prot. Epis. Prayer* 
book, and in this edition. 



THE PRESBYTERIAN EXCEPTIONS. 155 



as were in use by authori- 
ty of parliament, in the 
second year of the reign of 
Edward the Sixth, accord- 
ing to the act of parlia- 
ment. 

Rubric. 



sons alleged against cere- 
monies under our eigh- 
teenth general exception, 
we desire it may be wholly 
left out * 



Exception. 



The Lord's Prayer after 
the absolution ends thus, 
" Deliver us from evil." 



We desire that these 
words, f "For thine is the 
kingdom, the power and 
the glory, for ever and 
ever. Amen," may be always added unto the Lord's 
prayer ; and that this prayer may not be enjoined to be 
so often used in morning and evening service. 



Rubric. 



Exception. 



By this rubric, and other 
places in the Common 
Prayer-books, the Gloria 
Patri is appointed to be 
said six times ordinarily in 
every morning and evening 
service, frequently eight 
times in a morning, some- 
times ten ; which we think carries with it at least 
an appearance of that vain repetition which Christ for. 
bids: for the avoiding of which appearance of evil, we 
desire it may be used but once in the morning, and 
once in the evening. J 



And at the end of every 
psalm throughout the year, 
and likewise in the end of 
Benedictus, Benedicite, Mag- 
nificat, and Nunc Dimittis, 
shall be repeated, " Glory 
be to the Father," &c. 



Rubric. 

In such places where 
they do sing, there shall 
the Lessons be sung, in a 



Exception. 

The Lessons, and the 
Epistles, and Gospels, be- 
ing for the most part nei- 



* The history is the same as that of the preceding Exception. 

f Conceded by the Episcopalians in 1641. Disputed in the Answer, 
but adopted in all subsequent Prayer-books, in most instances. 

X Conceded by the Episcopalians in 1641. Refused in the Answer* 
Proposed by the Episcopalians in 1693. Applied. P. 92. 



156 



APPENDIX. 



plain tune, and likewise ther psalms nor hymns, we 
the Epistle and Gospel. know no warrant why they 
should be sung in any 
place, and conceive that the distinct reading of them 
with an audible voice tends more to the edification of 
the church.* 

Rubric. Exception. 
Or this canticle, Benedi- We desire that some 
cite omnia opera. psalm or scripture hymn 

may be appointed instead 
of that apocryphal, f 

IN THE LITANY. 

Rubric. Exception. 
From all fornication, and In regard that the wages 
all other deadly sin. of sin is death; we desire 

that this clause may be 
thus altered ; "From fornication, and all other heinous, 
or grievous sins."J 

Rubric. Exception. 
From battle, and mur- Because this expression 
der, and sudden death. of "sudden death" hath 
been so often excepted 
against, we desire, if it be thought fit, it may be thus 
read: "From battle and murder, and from dying sud- 
denly, and unprepared, "g 

Rubric. Exception. 

That it may please thee, We desire the term "all" 
to preserve all that travel may be advised upon, as 
by land or by water, all seeming liable to just ex- 



* Proposed by the Episcopalians in 1641. Disputed in the Answer. 
Adopted in all subsequent Prayer books. 

f Conceded by the Episcopalians in 1641. Refused in the Answer. 
Applied. P. 93. 

X Conceded by the Episcopalians in 1641. Refused in the Answer. 
De f ended in the Rejoinder. 

g First broached at Frankfort. Renewed at Hampton Court. De« 
nied in the Answer. Conceded and proposed in 1698. Not Applied* 
P. 104. 



THE PRESBYTERIAN EXCEPTIONS. 157 



women laboring with child, 
all sick persons, and young 
children, and to show thy 
pity upon all prisoners and 
captives. 



ceptions; and that it may 
be considered, whether it 
may not better be put 
indefinitely, " those that 
travel," &c, rather than 
universally.* 



THE COLLECT ON CHRISTMAS DAY. 



Rubric. 
Almighty God, which 
hast given us thy only be- 
gotten Son, to take our 
nature upon him, and this 
day to be born of a pure 
virgin, &c. 

Rubric. 
Then shall follow the 
collect of the Nativity, 
which shall be said con- 
tinually unto new-years- 
day. 



Exception. 
We desire that in both 
collects the word "this 
day" may be left out, it 
being according to vulgar 
acceptation a contradic- 
tion, f 



THE COLLECT FOE WHITSUNDAY. 



Rubric. 
God, which upon this 
day, &c. 

Rubric. 

The same collect to be 
read on Monday and Tues- 
day in Whitsun-week. 

Rubric. 

The two collects for St. 
John's day, and Innocent's, 
the collects for the first 
day in Lent, for the fourth 



Exception. 
We desire that these col- 
lects may be further con- 
sidered and abated, as 
having in them divers 



* Denied in the Answer. Defended in the Rejoinder, 
f Conceded and substantially adopted in all subsequent Prayer 
books. 



158 



APPENDIX. 



Sunday after Easter, for 
Trinity Sunday, for the 
sixth and twelfth Sunday 
after Trinity, for St. Luke's 
day, and Michaelmas day.* 



things that we Sudge fit 
to be altered. 



THE ORDER FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE LORD'S 
SUPPER. 



Rubric. 
So many as intend to be 
partakers of the holy com- 
munion shall signify their 
names to the curate over 
night, or else in the morn- 
ing before the beginning 
of morning prayer, or im- 
mediately after. 

Rubric. 



Exception. 

The time here assigned 

for notice to be given to 

the minister is not suf- 
ficient, f 



Exception. 



And if any of these be 
a notorious evil liver, the 
curate, having knowledge 
thereof, shall call him and 
advertise him in any wise 
not to presume to the 
Lord's table. 



We desire the ministers' 
power both to admit and 
keep from the Lord's table, 
may be according to ■ his 
majesty's Declaration, 25th 
Oct., 1660, in these words : 
"The minister shall admit 
none to the Lord's supper 
till they have made a credible profession of their faith, 
and promised obedience to the will of God, according as 
is expressed in the considerations of the rubric before 
the catechism ; and that all possible diligence be used 
for the instruction and reformation of scandalous offend- 
ers, whom the minister shall not suffer to partake of the 
Lord's table until they Lave openly declared themselves 
to have truly repented and amended their former 



* Evaded in the Answer, but adopted in the Prayer-hook, 
f Queried by the Episcopalians in 1641. Conceded in the Answer 
and adopted. 



THE PRESBYTERIAN EXCEPTIONS. 159 



naughty lives, as is partly expressed in the rubric, and 
more fully in the canons."* 



Rubric. 
Then shall the priest re- 
hearse distinctly all the ten 
commandments, and the 
people kneeling, shall after 
every commandment, ask 
God's mercy for transgress- 
ing the same. 



Exception. 
We desire, 

1. That the preface pre* 
fixed by God himself to the 
ten commandments may be 
restored.f 

2. That the fourth com- 
mandment may be read as 
inExod. xx., Deut. v., "He 



3. That neither minister nor people may be enjoined 
to kneel more at the reading of this than of other parts 
of Scriptures, the rather because many ignorant per- 
sons are thereby induced to use the ten commandments 
as a prayer. \ 

4. That, instead of those short prayers of the people 
intermixed with the several commandments, the minis- 
ter, after the reading of all, may conclude with a suit- 
able prayer. || 



Rubric. 

After the Creed, if there 
be no sermon, shall follow 
one of the homilies already 
set forth, or hereafter to be 
set forth by common au- 
thority. 



Exception. 

We desire that the preach- 
ing of the word may be 
strictly enjoined, and not 
left so indifferent, at the 
administration of the sac- 
raments; as also that min- 
isters may not be bound to 
those things which are as 
yet but future and not in 
being.f 



* Conceded by the Episcopalians in 1641. Conceded in the Answer, 
and substantially adopted, 
f Conceded, but not adopted. 
% Ibid. 

g Refused in the Answer, but conceded and proposed in 1663. Left 
Indifferent in this edition. P. 110 
II See last note. 

«T Urged by the Puritans for a century. Denied in the Answer* 
Defended in the Rejoin lor. Applied. P. 113. 



160 



APPENDIX. 



After such sermon, hom- 
ily, or exhortation, the 
curate shall declare, &c, 
and earnestly exhort them 
to remember the poor, say- 
one or more of these sen- 
tences following. 

Then shall the church- 
wardens, or some other by 
them appointed, gather the 
devotion of the people. 

- Exhortation. 

We be come together at 
this time to feed at the 
Lord's supper, unto the 
which in God's behalf I 
bid you all that be here 
present, and beseech you, 
for the Lord Jesus Christ's 
sake, that ye will not refuse to come, &c. 

The way and means thereto is first to examine your 
lives and conversation; and if ye shall perceive your 
offences to be such as be not only against God, but also 
against your neighbors, then ye shall reconcile your- 
selves unto them, and be ready to make restitution and 
satisfaction. 

And because it is requi- We fear this may dis- 
site that no man should courage many from com- 
come to the holy commu- ing to the sacrament, who 
nion but with a full trust lie under a doubting and 
in God's mercy and with a troubled conscience. § 
quiet conscience. 



* Refused in the Answer, but conceded partially in 1698. Applied. 
P. 121. 

t Queried by the Episcopalians in 1641. Left indifferent in this 
edition. 

% Disputed, but partially conceded and adopted, 
g Disputed in the Answer. Defended in the Rejoinder. Partially 
i&rroceded in 1689. Applied. P. 12 i. 



Two of the sentences 
here cited are apocryphal, 
and four of them more 
proper to draw out the 
people's bounty to their 
ministers, than their char- 
ity to the poor.* 

Collection for the poor 
may be better made at or 
a little before the depart- 
ing of the communicants. f 



If it be intended that 
these exhortations should 
be read at the communion,^ 
they seem to us to be un- 
seasonable.! 



THE PRESBYTERIAN EXCEPTIONS. 161 



[Rubr.] Before the Confes- 
sion. 

Then shall this general We desire it may be made 
confession be made in the by the minister only.* 
name of all those that are 

minded to receive the holy communion either by one of 
them, or else by one of the ministers, or by the priest 
himself. 

[Rubr.] Before the Confes- 
sion. 

Then shall the priest or 
the bishop (being present) 
stand up, and turning him- 
self to the people, say 
thus. 

[Proper] Preface on Christ- 
7u as day, and seven days 
after. 

Because thou didst give 
Jesus Christ, thine only 
Son, to be born as this day 
for us, &c. 

[Proper Preface] Upon 
Whitsunday, and six days 
after. 

According to whose most 
true promise, the Holy 
Ghost came down this day 
from heaven. 

Prayer before that tvhich is 
at the consecration. 
Grant us that our sinful We desire that, whereas 

* Queried by the Episcopalians in 1641. Partially conceded and 
adopted. Applied. 

f Queried by the Episcopalians in 1641. Refused in the Answer* 
Defended in the Rejoiuder. Applied. 

X Denied in the Answer. Proved in the rejoinder. 

I Not noticed in the Answer, but adopted in the Prayer-book. 

L 



Exception. 
The minister turning 
himself to the people is 
most convenient through- 
out the whole ministra- 
tion.f 



First, we cannot peremp- 
torily fix the nativity of 
our Saviour to this or that 
day particularly.! Second- 
ly, it seems incongruous to 
affirm the birth of Christ 
and the descending of the 
Holy Ghost to be on this 
day for seven or eight days 
together. § 



162 



APPENDIX. 



bodies may be made clean 
by his body, and our souls 
washed through his most 
precious blood. 



Prayer at the consecration. 

Hear us, merciful Fa- 
ther, &c, who in the same 
night that he was betrayed 
took bread, and when he 
had given thanks, he brake 
it, and gave to his disci- 
ples, saying, Take, eat, &c. 

Rubric. 

Then shall the minister 
first receive the commu- 
nion in both kinds, &c, 
and after deliver it to the 
people in their hands, 
kneeling; and when he de- 
livereth the bread, he shall 
say, " The body of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, which 
was given for thee, pre- 
serve thy body and soul 
unto everlasting life, and 
take and eat this in re- 
membrance," &c. 



We also desire that the 
being not that gesture wh 



these words seem to give a r 
greater efficacy to the 
blood than to the body of 
Christ, they may be altered 
thus, "That our sinful 
souls and bodies may be 
cleansed through his pre- 
cious body and blood."* 

We conceive that the 
manner of the consecrat- 
ing of the elements is not 
here explicit and distinct 
enough, and the minister's 
breaking of the bread is 
not so much as mentioned, f 

We desire, that at the 
distribution of the breacl 
and wine to the communi- 
cants, we may use the 
words of our Saviour as 
near as may be, and that 
the minister be not requir- 
ed to deliver the bread and 
wine into every particular 
communicant's hand, and 
to repeat the words to each 
one in the singular num- 
ber, but that it may suffice 
to speak them to divers 
jointly, according to our 
Saviour's example. J 
leeling at the sacrament (it 
i the apostles used, though 



* Disputed in the Answer. Defended in the Rejoinder. Conceded 
and proposed in 1668, and 1689. Applied. P. 123. 

f Partially conceded. Fully applied. P. 124. 

i Refused in the Answer. Defended in t\e Rejoinder. Applied, 
P, 125. 



THE PRESBYTERIAN EXCEPTIONS. 163 



Christ was personally present amongst them, nor that 
which was used in the purest and primitive times of the 
church) may be left free, as it was 1 and 2 Edw. 
[VI,] " As touching kneeling, &c, they may be used or 
left as every man's devotion serveth, without blame."* 

Rubric. Exception. 

And note that every par- Forasmuch as every par- 
ishioner shall communicate ishioner is not duly quali- 
at the least three times in fied for the Lord's supper, 
tLe year, of which Easter and those habitually pre- 
to be one, and shall also pared are not at all times 
receive the sacraments and actually disposed, but ma- 
other rites, according to ny may be hindered by the 
the order in this book ap- providence of God, and 
pointed. some by the distemper of 

their own spirits, we de- 
sire this rubric may be either wholly omitted, or thus 
altered : — 

" Every minister shall be bound to administer the 
sacrament of the Lord's supper at least thrice a year, 
provided there be a due number of communicants mani- 
festing their desires to receive."! 

And we desire that the following rubric in the Com- 
mon Prayer-book, in 5 and 6 Edw. [VI,] established by 
law as much as any other part of the Common Prayer- 
book, may be restored for the vindicating of our church 
in the matter of kneeling at the sacrament (although 
the gesture be left indifferent :) " Although no order can 
be so perfectly devised but it may be of some, either for 
their ignorance and infirmity, or else of malice and 
obstinacy, misconstrued, depraved, and interpreted in a 
wrong part; and yet, because brotherly charity willeth 
that, so much as conveniently may be, offences should 
be taken away; therefore are we willing to do the 
same. Whereas it is ordained in the book of Common 
Prayer, in the administration of the Lord's supper, 



* Maintained by Bu^er in 1549. Partially conceded by the Epis- 
copalians in 1641. Rpfused in the Answer. Defended in the Rejoin* 
der. Conceded and proposed in 1668, and 1689. 

f Conceded by the Episcopalians in 1641. Refused in the AnewtB 
Conceded and proposed in 1689, 



164 



APPENDIX. 



that the communicants kneeling should receive the holy 
communion, which thing being well meant for a signifi- 
cation of the humble and grateful acknowledging of the 
benefits of Christ given unto the worthy receivers, and 
to avoid the profanation and disorder which about the 
holy communion might else ensue, lest- yet the same 
kneeling might be thought or taken otherwise, we do 
declare, that it is not meant thereby that any adoration 
is done, or ought to be done, either unto the sacramen- 
tal bread or wine there bodily received, or unto any 
real and essential presence there being of Christ's natu- 
ral flesh and blood: for as concerning the sacramental 
bread and wine, they remain still in their very natural 
substances, and therefore may not be adored ; for that 
were idolatry to be abhorred of all faithful Christians : 
and as concerning the natural body and blood of our 
Saviour Christ, they are in heaven, and not here ; for it 
is against the truth of Christ's natural body to be in 
more places than in one at one time."* 

OF PUBLIC BAPTISM. 

There being divers learned, pious, and peaceable 
ministers who not only judge it unlawful to baptize 
children whose parents both of them are athiests, infi- 
dels, heretics, or unbaptized, but also such whose pa- 
rents are excommunicate persons, fornicators, or other- 
wise notorious and scandalous sinners ; we desire they 
may not be enforced to baptize the children of such, 
until they have made due profession of their repent- 
ance, f 

Before Baptism. 
Rubric. Exception. 

Parents shall give notice We desire that more 
over night, or in the morn- timely notice maybe given. J 
ing. 



* Procured by Knox. Approved by Bucer, Denied in the An, 
swer, but partially adopted in the Prayer-book. Fully conceded- 
enlarged, and amended in 1689. 

f Disputed in the Answer. Defended in the Rejoinder. Conceded . 
and proposed in 1689. Applied. 

% Denied in the Answer. Defended in the Rejoinder. Applied. 



THE PRESBYTERIAN EXCEPTIONS. 165 



Rubric. 
And the godfathers, and 
the godmothers, and the 
neople with the children. 



Exception. 
Here is no mention of 
the parents, in whose right 
the child is baptized, and 
who are fittest both to 
dedicate it unto God, and 
to covenant for it: we do not know that any persons 
except the parents, or some others appointed by them, 
have any power to consent for the children, or to enter 
them into cover ant. We desire it may be left free to 
parents, whether they will have sureties to undertake 
for their children in baptism or no.* 

Rubric. 



Ready at the font 



- In the first Prayer. 

By the baptism of thy 
well-beloved Son. &c, didst 
sanctify the flood Jordan, 
and all other waters, to the 
mystical washing away of 
sin, &c. 



The Third Exhortation. 

Do promise by you that 
be their sureties. 



Exception. 

We desire it may be so 
placed as all the congrega- 
tion may best see and hear 
the whole administration.! 

It being doubtful whether 
either the flood Jordan or 
any other waters were sanc- 
tified to a sacramental use, 
by Christ's being baptized, 
and not necessary to be 
asserted, we desire this 
may be otherwise express- 
ed.* 

We know not by what 
right the sureties do prom- 
ise and answer in the name 
of the infant : it seemeth 
to us also to countenance 



* First proposed at Hampton Court. Refused in the Answer. 
Defended in the Rejoinder. Conceded and proposed in 166S and 
1689. Partially adopted in the American Episcopalian Prayer-book, 
f First proposed by Bucer in 1549. Discussed, but left indifferent 
% Urged by Bucer* in 1549. Conceded in 1641. Disputed in the 
Answer. Defended in the Rejoinder^ Conceded and proposed in 
166S and 16S9. Adopted in subsequent Prayer-books. Applied. 



166 



APPENDIX. 



7*71$ Questions. the Anabaptistical opinion < 

Dost thou forsake, &c. of the necessity of an ac« 
Dost thou believe, &c. tual profession of faith and 
Wilt thou be baptized, repentance in order to bap- 
&c. tism. That such a profes- 

sion may be required of 
parents in their own name, and now solemnly renewed 
when they present their children to baptism, we will- 
ingly grant: but the asking of one for another is a 
practice whose warrant we doubt of: and therefore we 
desire that the first two interrogatories may be put to 
the parents to be answered in their own names, and the 
last propounded to the parents or pro-parents thusj 
** Will you have this child baptized into this faith ?"* 



The second Prayer before 
Baptism. 

May receive remission 
of [their] sins by spiritual 
regeneration. 



In the Prayer after Baptism. 

That it hath pleased thee 
to regenerate this infant by 
thy Holy Spirit. 



This expression seeming 
inconvenient, we desire it 
may be changed into this ; 
" May be regenerated and 
receive the remission of 
sins."f 



We cannot in faith say, 
that every child that is 
baptized is "regenerated 
by^God's Holy Spirit;" at 
least it is a disputable 
point, and therefore we 
desire it may be otherwise 
expressed. J 



* Suggested by Bucer in 1549. Urged at Hampton Court in 1603. 
Conceded and proposed in 1668 and 1689. Applied. 

t Discussed in the Answer and Rejoinder. Conceded and proposed 
th. 1668 and 1689. Applied. 

% Disputed in the Answer. Defended in the Rejoinder. Conceded 
and proposed in 1668. Applied, 



THE PRESBYTERIAN EXCEPTIONS. 167 



[Rubric] after Baptism. 

Then shall the priest Concerning the cross in 
make a cross, &c. baptism, we refer to our 

18th general.* 

OF PRIVATE BAPTISM. 

We desire that baptism may not be administered in a 
private place at any time, unless by a lawful minister, 
and in the presence of a competent number : that where 
it is evident that any child hath been so baptized, no 
part of the administration may be reiterated in public, 
under any limitations : and therefore we see no need of 
any liturgy in that case.-j* 

OF THE CATECHISM.J 



Catechism. 

1. Quest. What is your 
name, &c. 

2. Quest. Who gave you 
that name? 

Ans. My godfathers and 
my godmothers in my bap- 
tism ; wherein I was made 
a member of Christ, the 
child of God, and an in- 
heritor of the kingdom of 
heaven. 

3. Quest. What did your 
godfathers and godmothers 
do for you in baptism ? 

[Ans. They did promise 



Exception. 

We desire these three 
first questions may be al- 
tered; considering that the 
far greater number of per- 
sons baptized within these 
twenty years last past, had 
no godfathers or godmo- 
thers at their baptism. The 
like to be done in the sev- 
enth question. 

We conceive it might be 
more safely expressed thus ; 
" Wherein I was visibly ad- 
mitted into the number of 
the members of Christ, the 



* Urged at Hampton Court in 1603. Queried by the Episcopalians 
in 1641. Refused in the Answer. Defended in the Rejoinder. Con- 
ceded and proposed in 1668 and 1689. Adopted in the American 
Prayer-books. 

f Sutfge-ted by Bucer and at Hampton Court. Discussed in the An- 
swer and Rejoinder. Conceded and proposed in 1668. Applied. 

% The various changes proposed in the Catechism were discussed 
in the Answer and Rejoinder without result; and though virtually 
conceded and proposed in 1689, have never been adopted. 



168 



APPENDIX. 



and vow three things in my 
name, &c] 



children of God, and the 
heirs (rather than < inheri- 
tors') of the kingdom of 
heaven." 



Of the Rehearsal of the Ten 
Commandments. 
10. Ans. My duty to- 
wards God is to believe in 
him, &c. 



We desire that the com- 
mandments be inserted ac- 
cording to the new trans- 
lation of the Bible. 

In this answer there 
seems to be particular respect to the several command- 
ments of the first table, as in the following answer to 
those of the second. And therefore we desire it may 
be advised upon, whether to the last word of this 
answer may not be added, < * particularly on the Lord's 
day," otherwise there being nothing in all this answer 
that refers to the fourth commandment. 



14. Quest. How many 
sacraments hath Christ or- 
dained, &c. ? 

Ans. Two only as gene- 
rally necessary to salva- 
tion. 

19. Quest. What is re- 
quired of persons to be 
baptized ? 

Ans. Repentance, where- 
by they forsake sin; and 
faith, whereby they stead- 
fastly believe the promises 
*f God, &c, 

20. Quest. Why then are 
infants baptized when by 
reason of their tender age 
they cannot perform them ? 

Ans. Yes : they do per- 
form them by their sure- 
ties, who promise and vow 
them both in their names. 



That these words may 
be omitted, and answer 
thus given; "Two only, 
baptism and the Lord's 
supper." 

We desire that the en- 
tering infants 'into God's 
covenant may be more wa- 
rily expressed, and that 
the words may not seem to 
found their baptism upon 
a really actual faith and 
repentance of their own ; 
and we desire that a prom- 
ise may not be taken for a 
performance of such faith 
and repentance: and espe- 
cially, that it be not as- 
serted that they perform 
these by the promise of 
their sureties, it being to 
the seed of believers that 
the covenant of God is made; and not (that we caa 



THE PRESBYTERIAN EXCEPTIONS. 169 



find) to all that have such believing sureties, who are 
neither parents nor pro-parents of the child. 

In the general we observe, that the doctrine of the 
sacraments which was added upon the conference at 
Hampton Court, is much more fully and particularly 
delivered than the other parts of the Catechism, in 
short answers fitted to the memories of children, and 
thereupon we offer it to be considered: — 

First, Whether there should not be a more distinct 
and full explication of the Creed, the Commandments 
and the Lord's Prayer. 

Secondly, Whether it were not convenient to add 
(what seems to be wanting) somewhat particularly con- 
cerning the nature of faith, of repentance, the two 
covenants, of justification, sanctification, adoption, and 
regeneration. 

OF CONFIRMATION. 



The last Rubric before the 
Catechism. 

And that no man shall 
think that any detriment 
shall come to children by 
deferring of their confir- 
mation, he shall know for 
truth, that it is certain by 
God's word that children, 
being baptized, have all 
things necessary for their 
salvation, and be undoubt- 
edly saved. 

Rubric after the Catechism. 

So soon as the children 
can say in their mother- 
tongue the Articles of the 
Faith, the Lord's Prayer, 



Although we charitably 
suppose the meaning of 
these words was only to 
exclude the necessity of 
any other sacraments to 
baptized infants ; yet these 
words are dangerous as to 
the misleading of the vul- 
gar, and therefore we de- 
sire they may be ex- 
punged.* 



We conceive that it is 
not a sufficient qualifica- 
tion for confirmation, that 
children be able memoriter 



* Conceded in 1641. Partially conceded in the Answer, but not 
adopted in the Prayer book. Defended in the Rejoinder. Adopted 
In the Protestant Episcopal Prayer-book. 



170 



APPENDIX. 



and the Ten Command- 
ments, and can answer 
such other questions of 
this short Catechism, &c, 
then shall they be brought 
to the bishop, &c, and the 
bishop shall confirm them. 



to repeat the Articles of 
the Faith, commonly call- 
ed the Apostles' Creed, 
the Lord's Prayer, and the 
Ten Commandments, and 
to answer to some ques- 
tions of this short Cate- 
chism ; for it is often found 
that children are able to do all this at four or five years 
old. 2dly. It crosses what is said in the third reason 
of the first rubric before confirmation, concerning the 
usage of the church in times past, ordaining that con- 
firmation should be ministered unto them that were of 
perfect age, that they being instructed in the Christian 
religion, should openly profess their own faith, and 
promise to be obedient to the will of God. And there- 
fore, 3dly, we desire that none may be confirmed but 
according to his majesty's Declaration, viz., " That 
confirmation be rightly and solemnly performed by the 
information, and with the consent of the minister of 
the place."* 

Rubric after the Catechism. 



Then shall they be 
brought to the bishop by 
one that shall be his god- 
father or godmother. 



The Prayer before the Impo- 
sition of Hands. 

Who hast vouchsafed to 
regenerate these thy ser- 
vants by water and the 
Holy Ghost, and hast giv- 



This seems to bring in 
another sort of godfathers 
and godmothers, besides 
those made use of in bap- 
tism ; and we see no need 
either of the one or the 
other, f 



This supposeth that all 
the children who are 
brought to be confirmed 
have the Spirit of Christ, 



* Ur.ued by Bucer Disputed in the Answer. Defended in the 
Rejoinder. Fully conceded and proposed in 1689. Applied. 

t Discussed without result. Adopted in the Protestant Episcopal 
Prayer-book. 



THE PRESBYTERIAN EXCEPTIONS. 171 



*n unto them the forgive 
ness of all their sins. 



and the forgiveness of all 
their sins ; whereas a great 
number of children at that 
age, having committed many sins since their baptism, 
do show no evidence of serious repentance, or of any 
special saving grace : and therefore this confirmation 
(if administered to such) would be a perilous and gross 
abuse.* 

Rubric before the Imposition 
of Hands. 



Then the bishop shall 
lay his hand on every child 
severally. 



This seems to put a high- 
er value upon confirmation 
than upon baptism or the 
Lord's supper ; for accord- 
ing to the rubric and order in the Common Prayer- 
book, every deacon may baptize, and every minister 
may consecrate and administer the Lord's supper, but 
the bishop only may confirm. f 

The Prayer after Imposition 
of Hands. 



We make our humble 
supplications unto thee for 
these children: upon whom, 
after the example of thy 
holy apostles, we have laid 
our hands, to certify them, 
by this sign, of thy favor 
and gracious goodness to- 
wards them. 



We desire that the prac- 
tice of the apostles may 
net be alleged as a ground 
of this imposition of hands 
for the confirmation of 
children, both because the 
apostles did never use it in 
that case, as also because 
the Articles of the Church 



of England declare it to 
be a " corrupt imitation of the apostles' practice," Acts 

XXV. 

We desire that imposition of hands may not be made, 
as here it is, a sign to certify children of (rod's grace 
and favor towards them : because this seems to sneak it 



* Discussed without result. Conceded and proposed in 1663. 
Applied. 

i Conceded at Frankfort in 1555 Discussed in the Answer and Re 
joinder without result. Applied P- loo. 



172 



APPENDIX. 



a sacrament, and is contrary to that fore-mentioned 
25th Article, which saith, that " confirmation hath no 
visible sign appointed by God."* 



The last Rubric after Con- 
firmation. 

None shall be admitted 
to the holy communion, 
until such time as he can 
say the Catechism, and be 
confirmed. 



We desire that confirma- 
tion may not be made so 
necessary to the holy com- 
munion, as that none 
should be admitted to it 
unless they be confirmed.! 



OB THE FORM OP SOLEMNIZATION OF MATRIMONY. 



The man shall give the 

woman a ring, &c, 

shall surely perform and 
keep the vow and covenant 
betwixt them made, where- 
of this ring given and re- 
ceived is a token and 
pledge, &c. 



Seeing this ceremony of 
the ring in marriage is 
made necessary to it,- and a 
significant sign of the vow 
and covenant betwixt the 
parties ; and Romish ritu- 
alists give such reasons for 
the use and institution of 
the ring, as are either fri- 
volous or superstitious; it is desired that this cere- 
mony of the ring in marriage may be left indifferent, 
to be used or forborne. J 



JThe man shall say, With 
my body I thee worship. 



This word "worship" 
being much altered in the 
use of it since this form 
was first drawn up, we de- 
sire some other word may 
be used instead of it. J 



* Discussed without result. Conceded and proposed in 1668. 
f Partially conceded and adopted. 
1 Discussed without result. Applied. 

\ Proposed at Hampton Court in 1603. Conceded in 1641. Con* 
eeded in the Answer, but not adopted in the English Prayer-book* 
Adopted in American Prayer-hooks. 



THE PRESBYTERIAN EXCEPTIONS. 173 



In the name of the Fa- 
ther, and of the Son, and 
of the Holy Ghost. 



These words being only 
used in baptism, and here 
in the solemnization of ma- 
trimony, and in the abso- 
lution of the sick ; we desire it may be considered, 
whether they should not be here omitted, lest they should 
seem to favor those who count matrimony a sacra- 
ment.* 



This word " depart" ia 
here improperly used, f 

Exception. 

We conceive this change 
of place and posture men- 
tioned in these two rubrics 
is needless, and therefore 
desire it may be omitted. J 



Till death us depart. 

Rubric. 

Then the minister or 
clerk going to the Lord's 
table, shall say or sing this 
psalm. 

Next Rubric. 
The psalm ended, and 
the man and the woman 
kneeling before the Lord's * 
table, the priest standing 
at the table, and turning 
his face, &c. 

Collect. Exception. 
Consecrated the state of Seeing the institution of 
matrimony to such an ex- marriage was before the 
cellent mystery. fall, and so before the 

promise of Christ, as also 
for that the said passage in this collect seems to coun- 
tenance the opinion of making matrimony a sacrament, 
we desire that clause may be altered or omitted. \ 



Rubric, 

Then shall begin the 
communion, and after the 



Exception. 

This rubric doth either 
enforce all such as are un- 



* Discussed without result. Not applied, 
f Conceded and adopted in all Prayer-books. 

% Discussed. Modified and proposed in 1689. Adopted in the Pro« 
testant Episcopal Prayer-book. 

§ Discussed without result. Conceded and proposed in 1668. 
Applied. 



in 



APPENDIX. 



Gospel shall be said a ser- 
mon, &c. 

Last Rubric. 
The new married per- 
sons the same day of their 
marriage must receive the 
holy communion. 



fit for the sacrament to 

forbear marriage, contrary 
to Scripture, which ap- 
proves the marriage of all 
men; or else compels all 
that marry to come to the 
Lord's table, though never 
so unprepared: and there- 
fore we desire it may be omitted, the rather because 
that marriage festivals are too often accompanied with 
such divertisements as are unsuitable to those Chris- 
tian duties, which ought to be before and follow after 
the receiving of that holy sacrament.* 



OF THE ORDER FOR THE VISITATION OF THE SICK. 



Rubric before Absolution* 



Exception. 



Here shall the sick per- 
son make a special con- 
fession, &c, after which 
confession the priest shall 
absolve him after this sort: 
Our Lord Jesus Christ, &c, 
and by his authority com- 
mitted to me, I absolve 
thee. 



Forasmuch as the con- 
ditions of sick persons be 
very various and different, 
the minister may not only 
in the exhortation, but in 
the prayer also be directed 
to apply himself to the 
particular condition of the 
person, as he shall find 
most suitable to the pres- 
ent occasion, with due regard had both to his spiritual 
condition and bodily weakness; and that the absolution 
may only be recommended to the minister to be used or 
omitted as he shall see occasion. 

That the form of absolution be declarative and con- 
ditional, as, "I pronounce thee absolved" — instead of, 
"I absolve thee" — "if thou dost truly repent and 
Relieve. "f 



* Queried in 1601. Discussed without result. Modified and pro- 
poped in 16S9 Adopted in the Protestant Episcopal Prayer-book 

f Proposed in 1601. Refused in the Answer. Modified and pro 
posed in 1689. Expunged from American Prayer-hooks. 



THE PRESBYTERIAN EXCEPTIONS. 175 



OF THE COMMUNION OF THE SICK. 



Rubric. 

But if the sick person 
be not able to come to the 
church, and yet is desirous 
to receive the communion 
in his house, then he must 
give knowledge over-night, 
or else early in the morn- 
ing, to the curate: and 
having a convenient place 
in the sick man's house, he 
shall there administer the 
holy communion. 



Consider, that many sick 
persons, either by their 
ignorance or vicious life, 
without any evident mani- 
festation of repentance, or 
by the nature of the disease 
disturbing their intellectu- 
als, be unfit for receiving 
the sacrament. It is pro- 
posed, that the minister be 
not enjoined to*administer 
the sacrament to every sick 
person that shall desire it, 
but only as he shall judge 
expedient.* 

OF THE ORDER FOR THE BURIAL OF THE DEAD. 

We desire it may be expressed in a rubric, that the 
prayers and exhortations here used are not for the ben- 
efit of the dead, but only for the instruction and com- 
fort of the living, f 

First Rubric 

The priest meeting the We desire that ministers 
corpse at the church-stile, may be left to use their 
shall say, or else the priest discretion in these circum- 
and clerk shall sing, &c. stances, and to perform 
the whole service in the 
church, if they think fit, for the preventing of those 
inconveniences which many times both ministers and 
people are exposed unto by standing in the open air.J 

The second Rubric. 
When they come to the 
grave, the priest shall say, 



* Discussed without result. Applied, 
f Applied. 

X Ridiculed in the Answer, but adopted in the Prayer-book, 



176 



APPENDIX. 



Forasmuch as it hath These words cannot Is 
pleased Almighty Grod, of truth be said of p-ersons 
his great mercy to take living and dying in open 
unto himself the soul of and notorious sins.* 
our dear brother here de- 
parted ; we therefore commit his body to the ground 
in sure and certain hope of resurrection to eternal 
life. 

The first Prayer. 

"We give thee hearty These words may harden 
thanks for that it hath the wicked, and are incon- 
pleased thee to deliver this sistent with the largest r&- 
our brother out of the mis- tional charity, f 
eries of this sinful world, 
&c. 

That we, with this our brother, and all other depart- 
ed in the true faith of thy holy Name, may have our 
perfect consummation and bliss. 

The last Prayer. 

That when we depart • These words cannot be 
this life, we may rest in used with respect to those 
him, as our hope is this persons who have not by 
our brother doth. their actual repentance 

given any ground for the 
hope of their blessed es- 
tate. % 

OF THE THANKSGIVING OF WOMEN AFTER CHILD-BIRTH^ 
COMMONLY CALLED CHURCHING OF WOMEN.J 

Rubric* 

The woman shall come In regard that the wo- 
tmto the church, and there men's kneeling near the 



* Conceded or Queried in 1641. Discussed in the Answer and Re- 
joinder. Conceded and proposed in 1668, and 1698. Adopted in 
Protestant Episcopal Prayer-book. 

t See preceding note. 

1 Ibid. 

\ The proposed changes were discussed with as little result as in 
previous instances. The office having become obsolete, is omitted, 
®r retained in the form of an occasional Prayer and Thanksgiving, 



THE PRESBYTERIAN EXCEPTIONS. 1(7 



shall kneel down in some 
convenient place nigh un- 
to the place where the ta- 
ble stands, and the priest 
standing by her shall say, 
&c. 

Rubric. 

Then the priest shall say 
this Psalm cxxi. 

Lord, save this wo- 
man thy servant. 

Ans. Which putteth her 
trust in thee. 



Last Rubric. 

The woman that comes 
to give thanks, must offer 
the accustomed offerings. 

The same Rubric. 
And if there be a com- 
munion, it is convenient 
that she receive the holy 
communion. 



table is in many churches 
inconvenient, we desire 
that these words may be 
left out, and that the min- 
ister may perform that ser- 
vice either in the desk or 
pulpit. 

Exception. 
This Psalm seems not to 
be so pertinent as some 
other, viz., as Psalm cxiii. 
and Psalm exxviii. 

It may fall out that a 
woman may come to give 
thanks for a child born in 
adultery or fornication, and 
therefore we desire that 
something may be required 
of her by way of profes- 
sion of her humiliation, as 
well as of her thanksgiv- 
ing. 

This may seem too like a 
Jewish purification, rather 
than a Christian thanks- 
giving. 

We desire this may be 
interpreted of the duly 
qualified ; for a scandal- 
ous sinner may come to 
make this thanksgiving. 



Thus have we, in all humble pursuance of his majes- 
ty's most gracious endeavors for the public weal of this 
Church, drawn up our thoughts and desires in this 
weighty affair, which we humbly offer to his majesty's 
commissioners for their serious and grave consideration; 
wherein we have not the least thought of depraving or 



178 



APPENDIX. 



reproaching the Book of Common Prayer, but a sincere 
desire to contribute our endeavors towards the healing 
the distempers, and (as soon as may be) reconciling the 
minds of brethren. And inasmuch as his majesty hath 
in his gracious Declaration and Commission mentioned 
new forms to be made and suited to the several parts of 
worship ; we have made a considerable progress therein, 
and shall (by God's assistance) offer them to the rev- 
erend commissioners with all convenient speed. And if 
the Lord shall graciously please to give a blessing to 
these our endeavors, we doubt not but the peace of the 
Church will be thereby settled, the hearts of ministers 
and people comforted and composed, and the great 
mercy of unity and stability (to the immortal honor of 
our most dear sovereign) bestowed upon us and oui 
posterity after m 



APPENDIX 



III. 



GENERAL INDEX 



OF THE HISTORICAL SOERCES OP THE PRESBYTERIAN 
PRAYER-BOOK. 



Emendation, Presbyterian, 

Preface Editor. 

Tables of Daily Psalms and LesO 

Table J of Proper Psalms and Les- } En ^ h 

sons. J 
Table of Lessons for the Lord's 

days. « Church of Scotland, 



A. D. 

1661. 



1649. 



MORNING PRAYER. 



Sentences, 
Exhortation, 
Confession, 
Absolution. 
Doxology in the Lord's Prayer...... 

Tersicle. (Ps. lv. 15,) 

Gloria Patri, 

Yenite. (Ps. xcv..) 

Monthly Arrangement of Psalter, 

Te Deum. 

Landate Dominnm, (Ps. cxlviiL.).. 

Benedictus. (Luke i. 6S.) 

Jubilate Deo. (Ps. c.) „ 

Apostles' Creed, 

Salutation 

Yersieles. (Ps. li. 10, 11.) 

Collect for the Day,....,,.. 

Collect for Peace, „ 



Calvin, 

Pollanus, 

Lasco, 

Cranmer, 

Presbyterian, 

Ancient Usage, 

Xictne. 

Ancient Usage, 
English Usage, 

CSt. Ambrose. (/) 

< St. Augustine. (/) 

[Hilary, 
Presbyterian, 
Ancient Usage, 
First Revision, 
Puffinus, 
Primitive. 
Ancient Usage, 

(Ancient Origin. 

\Fr>gli?h Usage, 

( Gelasius, 

\ English Usage, 



1545. 

1550. 
1551. 
1552. 
1661. 

500. 

451. 

1549. 



355. 
1661. 



1552. 
250. 



1549. 
494. 
1549. 



(179) 



590. 
1545. 
1661. 



180 APPENDIX. 

Collect for Grace 

Prayer for the Chief Magistrate,... { j#» ^* 

Prayer for Ministers and People,.. { SSSSft*^ 16o£ 
Prayer for all Conditions of Men,.. Presbyterian Revision, 1661. 

General Thanksgiving, Presbyterian Revision, 1661. 

Prayer of St. Chrysostom, St. Chrysostom, 400. 

Benediction, (2 Cor. xiii. 14,) English Usage, 1661. 

EVENING PRAYER. 

Sentences, Exhortation, &e., Calvinistic Revision, 1552. 

First Versicle, (Ps. Iv. 15,) English Usage, 1552. 

Magnificat, (Luke i. 46,)° Ancient Usage, 

Cantate Domino, (Ps. xcviii.,) English Usage, 1552. 

Nunc Dimittis, (Luke ii. 29,) Ancient Usage. 

Benedic Anima, (Ps. ciii.,) American Usage, 1798. 

fc« D nonn (Gelasius, 494. 

Collect for Peace, j 1&49< 

Collect for Grace,. Ancient Usage, 494. 

THE LITANY. 

{Apostolical Constitutions, 300. 

Roman, 590. 

Anglo-Saxon, 900. 

Bucer, 1543. 

Cranmer, 1549. 

.AmeraZee?, 1661. 

" 1798. 

THE LORD'S DAY SERVICE. 

Collect for Purity,... ^ ^ 

| Calvin, 1545. 

Ten Commandments, < Polianus, 1550. 

(^Oemrner, 1552. 

Summary of the Law, American Usage, 1798. 

CO the C I) a yf Stle ' G ° SPel f ° r } Ancimt Usa 9 e > m ' 

Eight Beatitudes, Proposed Revision, 1698. 

Gloria in Excelsis",./. Greek Church, 300i 

Nicene Creed, Council of Niccea, 451. 

Collect before Sermon, Ancient. 

Collect after Sermon, English Reformed, 1549. 

Benediction, Bucer, 1545. 

First Concluding Collect, Proposed Revision, 1698, 

Second, Third, and Fourth Con- } Ancient 

eluding Collects, ) 
Benedictions, New Testament. 



HISTORICAL INDEX OF PRAYER-BOOK. 181 



THE COLLECTS FOR THE CHRISTIAN YEAR. 



First and Second in Advent, 

Third in Advent, 

Fourth in Advent, 

Christmas, 

Sunday after Christmas, 

Circumcision of Christ, 

Epiphany, 

First, Second, Third and Fifth! 

after Epiphany, j 

Fourth after Epiphany,... 

Sixth after Epiphany, 

Septuagesima, 

Sexagesima. 

Quinquagesima, 

Ash Wednesday, ... 

First in Lent, ... 

Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth ) 

in Lent„ \ 

Sunday next before Easter, 

Good Friday, First Collect, 

" Second " 

" Third " 

Easter Even, 

Easter Day, 

First and Second after Easter, 

Third after Easter, 

Fourth " 

Fifth 64 

Ascension Day, 

Sunday after Ascension, 

Whitsunday, 

Trinity, 

First after Trinity, 

Second " 

Third, Fourth, Fifth, 

Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, 

Ninth, Tenth, 

Eleventh 

Twelfth, Thirteenth, Fourteenth,.. 

Fifteenth, Sixteenth, 

Seventeenth 

Twentieth, Twenty-first, 

Twenty- second, 

Twenty- third, T wenty- fourth ) 

Twenty-fifth, J ~ 



A. D. 



English Reformed, 1549. 

Composed, 1661. 

Gelasius, 494 

English Reformed, 1549. 

Altered Ancient, 1549 

Gregory, 590 

n «* 

it u 

Altered Ancient, 1661 

Composed, 1661 

Gregory, 590 

Altered Gregory, 1549 

English Reformed, 1549 

u it (t 

a u « 

Gregory, 590 

Gelasius, 494 

Gregory, . 590. 

Gelasius, 494 

English Reformed, 1549 

Composed, 1661 

Gelasius, 494 

English Reformed, 1549 

Leo, 483 

Altered Ancient, 1661 

Gelasius, 494 

Gregory, 590 

Altered Ancient, 1661. 

Gregory, 590 

tt a 

Gelasius, 494. 

Altered Ancient, 1661. 

Gregory, 590 

Gelasius, 494 

Leo, 483. 

Gelasius, 494 

Leo, 483. 

Gelasius, 494. 

Gregory, 590. 

Gelasius, 494. 

Anglo-Saxon, 900. 

Gregory, 590. 



THE COMMUNION SERVICE. 

First Rubric, Directory, 178& 

Second Rubric, , Larger Catechism, 1644. 

Exhortations, \ Z ucer \, , 15ft 

^ I Peter Martyr, 155i 



APPENDIX. 



C Calvinistic Revision, 

Rubrics before Exhortations, < Presbyterian Revision, 

( Directory, 
C Ancient. 

Prayer for Church Militant, 1 Reformed, 

( Revised, 

Words of Institution, Directory, 

monition jSf* 

Nation, \f^«f 0med > 

I Bucer, 

Confession, < Pollanus, 

( Presbyterian, 

Absolution, J Altered Ancient, 

\ Revised, 

Comfortable Words, Cologne Liturgy, 

Prayer of Humble Access, [English Reformed, 

j i Presbyterian Revision, 

Versicles, "J C Apostolic. 

Preface, > < Latin Usage, 

Tersanctus, j ( Ante JNicene, 

(Altered Ancient, 
Consecrating Prayer, < Calvinistic Revision, 

{Shorter Catechism, 

f Calvinistic Liturgies, 
Breaking of the Bread, ^ Directory, 

{Presbyterian, 
Administration of Bread and Wine, " 

Sentences of Scripture, ^formed Liturgies, 

* ' ( Book of Common Order, 

Thanksgivings, English Reformed, 

Gloria in Excelsis, English Usage, 

Nunc Dimittis, Calvinistic Usage, 

Benediction, Directory, 

Rubrics, Confession of Faith, 



A. D. 

1552. 
1661. 
1788. 

1549. 

1552. 
1788. 
1549. 
1645. 
1549. 
1645. 
1545. 
1550. 
1661. 
1549. 
1552. 
1545. 
1545. 
1661. 

300. 

400. 
1549. 
15^2. 
1661. 

1645. 
1661. 

it 

1545. 
1555. 
1552. 
1552. 
1545. 
1788. 
1645. 



BAPTISM OF INFANTS. 

First Rubric, Directory, 1645. 

Second Rubric, Westminster Catechitm, 1645. 

The Gospel, 1 f er V JS?' 

Exhortation, I 155 ' 

Thanksgiving, f - 4 Bucer, 1551. 

Second Prayer, Amended Ancient, 1661. 

Address to Parents, t 5^™'** 1661* 

Questions to Parents, j { 

(Luther, ' 1533. 

Petitions, -< Bucer, 1551. 

[Amended, 



HISTORICAL INDEX OF PRAYER-BOOK. 183 



Words of Administration, 

Words of Reception, 

Exhortation, "| 

Lord's Prayer, > 

Thanksgiving, J 

Final Address to Parents, 

Rubrics, 

Rubric concerning Guardians, 



A. D. 

Our Lord. 

(English Reformed, 1549. 

\ Amended, 1661. 

( Calvinistic Revision, 1552. 

\ Presbyterian Revision, 1661. 

( English Reformed, 1549. 
( Calvinistic Liturgies, 

Confession of Faith, 1645. 

Assembly's Acts, 1787. 



CATECHISM. 

Rubric, Directory, 1788. 

The Lord's Prayer, "} 

The Commandments, > Shorter Catechism, 1788. 

The Creed, J 

The Catechism, Westminster Assembly, 1645. 



ADMISSION TO THE LORD'S SUPPER. 



Rubrics, Directory, 1788. 

Ver sides, ) J English Reformed, 1549. 

Collect, \ \ Amended, 1661, 1668. 

Questions to Candidate, Amended Ancient. 

Benedictional Prayer, Calvinistic Revision, 1552. 

^Collect, 

Second Collect, „ Ancient, 



BAPTISM OF ADULTS. 



First Rubric, Confession of Faith, 1645. 

Second Rubric, Directory. 1788. 

3641. 
1661. 



Addresses, { f^Jf^ 



SOLEMNIZATION OF MARRIAGE. 



First Rubric, Directory, 

Second " " 

Third " Ancient. 

Fourth " Directory, 

C Bucer, 

Exhortation, J ^ rtSC0 > „ 

' J Cranmer, 

(. Knox, 

The Espousals, ) . . . 

The Ceremony of the Ring, \ Ancient. 
The First Prayer, , Amended Ancient, 



1645. 
1788. 

1788. 
1545. 
1545. 
1549. 
1555. 



1549. 



184 



APPENDIX. 



A. D. 

The Second Praver (Amended Ancient, 1549, 

ane becond Grayer, j Presbyterian Revision, 1661, 

Declaration to the Witnesses, Cologne Liturgy, 1545. 

Benedictions, Ancient. 

Homily, English Reformed, 1549. 

VISITATION OF THE SICK. 

First Rubric, Directory, 1645. 

Pray ers S ' > -f Amended Ancient, 1549. 

Exhortations, > \ Presbyterian Revision, 1661. 

De Profundis, American Usage, 1798. 

Benedictions, English Reformed) 1549. 

The Four Occasional Prayers, Revision, 1661. 

The Communion of the Sick, {tseMy's Act, 1863. 

BURIAL OF THE DEAD. 

First Rubric, Presbyterian, 1661. 

First Sentence of Scripture, ) Ancient. 

Second " - $ 

Third « " English Reformed, 1549. 

Psalms, ) „ u u 

Lesson, £ 

The Sentences at the Grave, { £g£* ^ 

The Words of Committal, Bucer, 1552. 

The Sentence after Committal, Ancient Usage, 

Thereafter Bnrial, {%%?%%^ ^ 

Benediction, Revision, 1661, 

Prayer after Burial at Sea, Manual of Worship. 



INDEX OF THE ADDITIONAL SERVICES. 

The word Compiled will, in most instances, indicate those exam- 
ples which are not afforded, in a complete form, by any ancient or 
modern formulary, but which the Editor has woven, after the classic 
models, out of such scriptural and liturgical expressions as seemed 
to be most suitable. The word Ancient indicates those which data 
before the Reformation, and the authors of which are unknown. 



VISITATION OF MOURNERS. 



Lessons, , 

Bcripture Sentences, , 

First, Second, Fourth, Fifth, 
Sixth Prayers, 

Third Prayer, 

Seventh Prayer, 



Lutheran Liturgy. 
( Presbyterian Hand-book % 
\ Baptist Hand-book. 

Compiled. 

Clergyman's Companion* 
Jeremy Taylor. 



HISTORICAL INDEX OP PRAYER-BOOK. 185 



PUBLIC HUMILIATION. 

A. D. 

GenerafciiifessioB., \ Mtered **** ^'&rvices- 

Proper Psalms and Lessons, Compiled. 

The Collect, Ancient. 

A Prayer in Time of Pestilence, Compiled. 

In Time of Plague," Old English, 1552. 

In Time of Drought, Compiled. 

In time of Dearth or Famine,"] 

Father, \ 0!d English, 1552. 

In Time of War, J 
In Time of Insurrections and) 

Tumults, I John Knox. 

In Troublous Times, Bishop A. Potter. 

For the Preservation of the Nation, Compiled. 
For the Return of Peace, ) 

For the Restitution of all things, > Ancient. 
Concluding Prayer, ) 



PUBLIC THANKSGIVING. 

GeSThanksgiTing, } — Amended English State-Servic*. 

Proper Psalms and Lessons, \. Compiled. 

The Collect, Ancient. 

Thanksgivings after Harvest, English Occasional OffL$u 

For American Independence, 

For the Bounties of Providence, > Compiled. 

For the Removal of Pestilence, j 

For Deliverance from Plague, ") ^-j 

Second Example. J" Old English, 1604. 

For Removal of Famine, ....... Compiled. 

For Rain, 1 

For Fair Weather. I /wj a,«7.- is 1CrtJ 
For Plenty, ' f Old English, 1604. 
For Tictory, J 
For any Great Public Deliver-"] 

^Restoration of Peace at \ Ameniei M En ^>h M«. 

Home. J 

For Restoration of Peace Abroad, \ r> nmvv n*a 

For Promise of Millenium, ) <>> m Pte*. 



DAILY PRAYERS. 



Introductory Collect?. 
Morning and Evening Collect;?, 
For the Civil Authorities, 
In Legislatures, 
In the Army, 



Lonects, j 

1 



Ancient. 



Compiled* 



186 



APPENDIX. 



A. D, 

In the Navy, English, 1661. 

In Schools, Compiled, 

In Families, Ancient. 

Concluding Collects, Ancient. 



VARIOUS PRAYERS. 

First Collect, English Reformed, 

Second " Calvin, 

Third " Compiled. 

Fourth " Ancient, 

A Confession of Original Sin, Calvin, 

Of Sins of the Heart, {S^V^ 

Of Thought, Word, and Deed, Ancient. 

First Collect for Pardon, Ancient. 

Second " " Old English, 

First Collect for Penitence, " " 

Second " " Ancient. 

For Holy Living, Old English, 

For Purity, Ancient. 

Knowledge J OU 

\ 

For Perseverance, } 

For Hope, > Old English, 

For Witness of the Holy Spirit, ) 

Before the Communion, ) , . . 

At the Communion \ Ancient. 

Before Baptism of Children, Reformed Dutch Liturgy, 

For Baptized Children, Amended Ancient. 

Before the Election of Elders or ) 

Deacons, > Compiled, 

For the General Assembly, ) 

For the Church Universal, English, 

For Congress, Amended English, 

At the Beginning of the Day, } 

Against Worldly Caiefulness, > ... Old English, 

At Night, ) 

For Absent Friends, Compiled. 

levying J Amended Ancient. 

After Instances of Mortality, Clergyman's Companion. 

After a Burial, Compiled. 

£ SEES I Yoy^f } 

For Persons going to Sea, > „ , . . ^ . „ 

For a Person Under Affliction, j - ^otestant Epvsc. Prayer- 
For Food, ) 

For Rain, > ,„ Amended Ancient, 

For Fair Weather, ) 

Prayer* to Storms at Sea, 



1549. 
1550. 



1544. 
1563. 



1560, 
1560. 



1660. 
1560. 



1560. 



1698. 
1661. 



1560* 



book* 



HISTORICAL INDEX OF PRAYER-BOOK. 187 



Amended Ancient. 



Irish Prayer-book, 



Among Enemies, 
For Charity toward Enemies, 
For Prisoners, 
For the Wounded, 
For a Person Cast into Prison, 
For Imprisoned Malefactors, 
For Persons under Sentence of 

Death, J 

After a Disaster in War, Compiled. 

Before a Fight,) ni/ , « , 

Short Prayers,'/ Old English, 
Collects in reference to Various \ 

Sacred Events and Persons, j 
A Prayer For Christian Missions, 
For Christian Rulers and Na-~ 

tions, 
For the Jews, 
For Infidels and Heretics, 
A General Prayer Containing 

the Duty of Every Christian, 



A. D. 



1711. 



1548. 



Ancient. 

English Occasional Office. 
Ancient. 

Old English, 1560. 



VARIOUS THANKSGIVINGS. 



For the Benefits of Redemption, \ 
After the Communion, J 

After Child-birth 

After Baptism of Children, 

At the Beginning of the Day, > 
Second Example, j 
For the Beginning of Recovery, ) 
For Recovery of Sickness. 
For Recovery of Sick or Wound- ~ 
ed, 

For Supplies of Food, 
For Returning Rain, 
For Deliverance from Storms..., 

Second Example, , 



For Deliverance from Enemies,...., 
For Safe Return of Prisoners....... 

For Safe Return from Sea, 

For Safe Return from Campaign^ 



Knox's Liturgy, 

Amended Ancient, 
Reformed Dutch, 

Old English, 
Protestant Episcopal. 

Amended Ancient, 

Compiled. 
(Presbyterian. 
\ Episcopalian. 

Old English, 

Amended Ancient. 

Protestant Episcopal, 

Compiled. 



1555. 



156<X 



1604, 



188 






APPENDIX IV. 




PRESBYTERIAN. 


27ie Lord's Day Service. 


(Morning Prayer.) 
Collect for Purity. 
Lord's Prayer. 
Ten Commandments. 
Summary of the Law. 
Collect of the Day. 
Epistle. 
Gospel. 
Beatitudes. 
Gloria in Excelsis. 

(Creeds. } ! 
(Litany.) ! 

Sermon. 

Prayer and Hymn. 
Benediction. 


The Lord's Supper. \ 


(Collection.) 
Prayer for Church Militant 
Words of Institution. 
Admonition. 
Invitation. 
Confession. 
Absolution. 
Comfortable "Words. 
Prayer of Humble Access. 
Sursum Corda. 
Preface and Tersanctus. 
Consecrating Prayer. 
Breaking of the Bread. 
Communion. 

(The Lord's Prayer.) 
Thanksgiving. 
Hymn and Dozology. 
Benediction. 


m 
W 

S 
PS 
p 

HH 
Hi 

H 


EPISCOPALIAN. 


Ante- Communion. 


(Morning Prayer.) 
The Lord's Prayer. 
Collect for Purity. 
Ten Commandments. 
Summary of the Law. 
Collect of the Day. 
Epistle. 
Gloria. 

Go? pel. 

(Creeds.) 

Sermon. 

Prayer and Hymn. 


Holy Communion. 


Offertory. 

Prayer for Church Militant. 

The Exhortation. 

The Invitation. 

Confession. 

Absolution. 

Comfortable Words. 

Sursum Corda. 

Preface, with Tersanctus. 

Prayer of Humble Access. 

Prayer of Consecration. 

Words of Institution. 

Communion. 

Thanksgiving. ^ 
Gloria in Exoelsis. 
Benediction. 


!23 
W 
Ph" 
W 
Fh 
r. , 
rH 
HI 
P 

Fh 

o 


CALVINISTIC. 


The Lord's Day 
Service. 


Psalmody. 

Ten Commandments. 
Invocation. 
Confession. 
Absolution. 

New Testament Lesson. 

Sermon. 
General Prayer. 
Creed. 
Psalm. 

Benediction. 


1 

1 


The Lord's Prayer. 

Invocation. 

Creed. 

Words of Institution. 
Exhortation. 
Consecrating Prayer. 

Breaking of the Bread. 

Words of Christ. 
Communion. 

Thanksgiving. 
Nunc Dimittis. 

Benediction. 


COMPAEATIVE VIEW i 


LUTHERAN. 


Sunday Service. 


Introit. 
Exhortation. 
Confession. 
Kyrie Eleison. 
Gloria in Exoelsis. 
Collect of the Day. 
Epistle. 

Gospel. 
Creeds. 

Sermon. 

Benediction. 


Evangelical Mass. 


Salutation. 
Sursum Corda. 
Preface, with Sanctus. 
Exhortation. 
Consecration Prayer. 
The Lord's Prayer. 
Words of Institution. 
Agnus Dei or Hymn. 

Nunc Dimittis. 
Thanksgiving. 

Benediction. . 


< 
> 

a 


Ordinarium Missce. 


Versicles with Gloria. 
Confiteor, Absolutio. 
Introit (Anthem). 
Kyrie Eleison. 
Gloria in Excelsis. 
Collect of the Day. 
Epistle. 

Gradual. 

Gospel. 
Nicene Creed. 


Canon Missce. 


Offertorium. 
Oblation. 
Sursum Corda. 
Preface, with Sanctus. 
Prayer for the Church. 
Commemoration of Dead. 
Words of Institution. 
The Lord's Prayer. 
Breaking of the Host. 
Agnus Dei. 

Priest's Prayer of Acoess. 
Priest's Communion. 

Thanksgiving. 
Post-Communion Anthem. 
Ite Missa est. 
Benedicamus, 




PRIMITIVE. 


L Service of Hearers, 
\ or Catechumens. 


Psalmody with Gloria 
Patri. 

Old Testament Lesson. 

New Testament Lesson. 
Sermon. ^ 

Dismissal of Hearers 
with Benediction. 


Service of Believers, 
or Eucharist. 


Oblation. 
Admonition. 
Invitation. 
Sursum Corda. 
Tersanctus. 
Thanksgiving. 
Consecrating Prayer. 
(Words of Institution.) 

Communion. 
Thanksgiving. 

(Lord's Prayer.) 
Dozology. 
Benediction. 



/r. 





wBBm 



^^^^ 




